Fahrenheit 451-Connection Or Conversation?

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Connection or Conversation? "We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection" (Turkle). In this age of technology, our society has pulled itself toward the latest new gadget. They're overhyped and overused. Keeping eye contact and holding an average conversation has fallen by the wayside. We Americans pride ourselves in possessions because it's often easier to talk about what we have, rather than deeper conversations such as who we are and what kind of person we want to become. The film Minority Report, and the novel, Fahrenheit 451, agree that we spend so much time alone in our personal bubble of technology that we have lost touch with reality and have passed …show more content…
When a flaw within the Pre-Crime system flared up, the main character, John, automatically relied on the system to fix itself. After remarking about the system's excellence, a federal agent reminded John that, "If there's a flaw, it's human. It always is..." (Minority Report). Having been previously hurt by humans, John trusted the perfection of technology over man's capabilities. However, even machinery is made by human hands and intensions. Although the flawlessness of machines and computers seem to be given facts in this world, we must remember the consequences of what happens when we refuse conversation and trust machines over each other. This path of following our phones instead of hearts will lead us down a path we cannot come back from, and our world would become a barren community. No matter how many times we have been hurt by one another, we can't expect our iPhones and PCs to bring us redemption or hope. We have to take responsibility to save ourselves from disaster. This includes embracing each other, and putting our loved ones above ourselves and our agendas. As a society, we must leave our selfish desires behind and strain toward believing in each other again. Our heavy reliance on technology must come to an …show more content…
Personally, my iPhone is a way for me to escape my tasks for a moment to breathe during my busy day. For many others however, we have become enslaved to this personal bubble, rarely letting anyone in (Turkle). Because we live in a society driven by consumerism, it's extremely easy to fall into this frame of mind. We mistake strong connections for lightning fast internet service instead of a respectful hug or handshake. After remarking on how the world constantly welcomes technological advances, Amos says, "Now, computers are growing ever more powerful even as they decrease in size, and they are now being embedded invisibly into the Internet of Things, into contactless interfaces, and into our daily lives" (Amos). Our technology is controlling us, and we are letting it. This quote makes me wonder how many of my days have gone by with several "contactless interfaces" (Amos). I ponder on how many opportunities I have missed because my head was down and my mind was elsewhere. Will it be long before our society has completely rejected conversation and companionship? At what point will we have fallen too far? It's certain that one day, our seemingly perfect machines will present us with a flaw, and together this society will have to trust one another, and it won't be

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