Computers Change Thinking

In “How Computers Change The Way We Think” Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT, founder of the MIT Initiative on technology and self and clinical psychologist argues that technology today is negatively impacting our natural thought process as humans.   She focuses primarily on a few major concerns such as privacy, identity and the dangers technology present to us in our everyday life.   Turkle does mention the development of educational programs for the computer but really focuses on the challenges we will face with advancing technology.   While the author expresses major concerns for our future with technology, it’s clear she understands that technology is here to stay and seems to be warning us that changes need to be made in order for us to adapt correctly.  
Turkle is clearly an established authority when it comes to this subject matter based on her credentials and education.   She makes a few compelling arguments that evoke some interesting questions regarding the influence of technology in our society but she fails to cover other important aspects which hurt her argument.   What Turkle doesn’t talk about in her essay are the masses of people who are unaffected by technology, those who are deprived of computers and technology completely or even some of the incredible benefits of technology in our society today.  
With her heavily cautious tone, Turkle repeatedly warns us of the potential dangers we face if we continue down the same path we are currently on.   One of the major concerns she expresses in this essay is privacy, or lack thereof.   Turkle claims “middle-school and high-school students tend to be willing to provide personal information online with no safeguards” (p.602).   This is a very general statement with no given evidence to support her.   I believe that privacy has been a major topic of discussion for a long time now and if anything, most people are more apprehensive now than ever to provide personal information on the internet.   She also notes that...