1.
Could online interactions successfully replace
in-person interactions?
No I don’t think that we as human beings, or our society
could function if online interactions were to replace in-person interactions. I
found an interesting study that describes how baby monkeys do without interaction:
“He happened upon the findings in the
mid-fifties, when he decided to save money for his primate-research laboratory
by breeding his own lab monkeys instead of importing them from India. Because
he didn’t know how to raise infant monkeys, he cared for them the way hospitals
of the era cared for human infants—in nurseries, with plenty of food, warm
blankets, some toys, and in isolation from other infants to prevent the spread
of infection. The monkeys grew up sturdy, disease-free, and larger than those
from the wild. Yet they were also profoundly disturbed, given to staring
blankly and rocking in place for long periods, circling their cages
repetitively, and mutilating themselves.
In a later study on the effect of total isolation
from birth, the researchers found that the test monkeys, upon being released
into a group of ordinary monkeys, “usually go into a state of emotional shock,
characterized by . . . autistic self-clutching and rocking.” Harlow noted, “One
of six monkeys isolated for three months refused to eat after release and died
five days later.” After several weeks in the company of other monkeys, most of
them adjusted—but not those who had been isolated for longer periods. “Twelve
months of isolation almost obliterated the animals socially,” Harlow wrote.
They became permanently withdrawn, and they lived as outcasts—regularly set
upon, as if inviting abuse.”
I think this study shows how dangerous life
without human interaction can be. People can go crazy. I think making online
interactions our top priority will be dangerous for us as people, and our
society.
2.
Can robots/technology replace human
interactions?
From the same study above, there
was another great example that pertains to this question. At first,
Harlow and his graduate students couldn’t figure out what the problem was. They
considered factors such as diet, patterns of light exposure, even the
antibiotics they used. Then, as Deborah Blum recounts in a fascinating
biography of Harlow, “Love at Goon Park,” one of his researchers noticed how
tightly the monkeys clung to their soft blankets. Harlow wondered whether what
the monkeys were missing in their Isolettes was a mother. So, in an odd
experiment, he gave them an artificial one.
In the studies, one artificial
mother was a doll made of terry cloth; the other was made of wire. He placed a
warming device inside the dolls to make them seem more comforting. The babies,
Harlow discovered, largely ignored the wire mother. But they became deeply
attached to the cloth mother. They caressed it. They slept curled up on it.
They ran to it when frightened. They refused replacements: they wanted only
“their” mother. If sharp spikes were made to randomly thrust out of the
mother’s body when the rhesus babies held it, they waited patiently for the
spikes to recede and returned to clutching it. No matter how tightly they clung
to the surrogate mothers, however, the monkeys remained psychologically
abnormal.
Even in this study it shows how the monkeys needed a
mother-a personal interaction. The cloth dolls were better for the monkeys than
the wire dolls. They felt the cloth and it felt more like a real interaction
than the wire dolls. I think this is also true for us. Typing a status, getting
likes on a photo, or tweeting out something witty will never replace the
satisfaction that comes from other humans in in-person interaction: a kiss, a
hug, a high five, a smile. Those interactions give us as human beings a deep
sense of belonging.
3.
Are you in control of your electronics, or are
they in control of you? Give some examples.
I feel like these days our electronics are in control of us.
Every thing we do we do with a phone in our hands, headphones in our ears, or a
laptop on our laps. We are always connected-sharing instagram pictures,
updating our statuses, tweeting etc. The first thing I do every morning is
check my email and get on instagram, and the same thing before I go to bed. It
is that constant connectivity that controls our day, our habits and our
lifestyle. How many times do we see people get up and leave class because they
are getting a phone call? While yes that call may be very important, the
buzzing device controls us and becomes more important that class-than school! Electronics
are definitely controlling us.
4.
Do you prefer texting or calling?
I prefer different methods of communication depending on
when and where I am. It is so convenient to send a text when we are in groups
of people. Or when I don’t have time to make a phone-call. But when I need to
catch up with someone or relay a lot of information I feel like a phone call is
my preferred method of communication.
| James Goldberg | A BYU English professor. Has a relatively small following on Twitter (113), but a large influence in the blog world-- Mormon Midrashim |
| Salman Rushdie | An extremely famous author who has connections with the writing world. |
| Margaret Blaire Young | A BYU professor, a Filmmaker, an author who has a lot of influence in the Mormon writing sphere. |
| Brandon Sanderson | 60k twitter followers, writer |
| Eric James Stone | A Nebula Award winner and Hugo Award nominee, Eric James Stone has been published in Year's Best SF and Analog, among other venues. He has over 1,000 twitter followers and has influence in the professional writing community. |
| Jonathon penny | |
| Steven peck | |
| Mormon Lit Blitz | A Mormon Literature contest |
| Fire In the pasture | Blog for Mormon Poetry |
| By Common Consent | 5,100 Twitter followers |
