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kaushik_r · 10-01-2002, 06:03 PM

Hello xaero,

I read your essay after my own attempt.In para 2, you have gone into "loneliness" as it applies to the isolation of a country from the world.I had a comletely different interpretation of the topic(more like your para 3).Tell me if you think this approach makes sense.
(As before, I needed more than 45 mins to do this

- do you manage to complete all your essays within the time limit?)

"Both the development of technological tools and the uses to which humanity has put them have created modern civilizations in which loneliness is ever increasing."

The author's statement raises the following related questions.Is loneliness increasing in modern civilization?If so, does either the development of technology or the manner of use (or both) contribute to this loneliness?
To analyse the rather complex and debatable first question, one must consider the various socio-economic classes of people and their different needs for communication.For example, it is likely that a middle-class government employee has significantly lesser contacts on a daily basis than a city businessman who in turn, may have less contacts than the CEO of a top company.In addition, the personal and psychological makeup of a person is an important factor to be considered.A normally taciturn person is probably not specially loquacious when on the telephone and vice versa.
However, technology introduces some other parameters including changes in physical distance of separation.Unquestionably, technology has brought closer people who were geographically far apart.The ubiquitous telephone has enabled real-time communication around the globe where earlier only letters were possible, which took days, even weeks to be delivered.
But it is also certain that a degree of physical detachment has come to being acceptable, even normal.Parents today does not miss their sons/daughters so much when they go off to college because they can communicate regularly, by a variety of means provided by technology including e-mail, chatting and the occasional telephone call.On a personal note, when my sister spent four years at college in a different city, the physical distance was almost not felt at all because of the regular e-mails exchanged.
The truth, therefore seems to lie somewhere in between - each type of person seems to have been affected to a different degree by technology with respect to his/her detachment from others.
To answer the second question, we must keep in mind that change is brought in not by virtue of the mere existence of an alternative, but rather by people's acceptance and indeed, their interpretation of that alternative.Technology may be developed with one purpose in mind and may end up being viewed in a completely different perspective by the users.For example, when electronic mail was developed, it was intended only as a means of remote communication, not as a substitute for telephones, or to save paper, or to enable companies to communicate effectively with their employees.Blaming e-mail for increasing loneliness would be tantamount to ascribing to it, the rise of terrorism; because of the ease with which the terrorists can now communicate with each other for nefarious purposes.Clearly, only the use of technology is culpable, if at all.
To conclude, it may not be possible to determine with complete confidence whether citizens of the "global village" are increasingly lonely or not, but the fact remains that their manner of use of technology contributes to this feeling rather than technology itself.

Kaushik

p.s.
I seem to get all my best ideas after 35-40 mins . Perplexing...?

10-01-2002, 06:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
kaushik_r Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: India Posts: 27	Hello xaero, I read your essay after my own attempt.In para 2, you have gone into "loneliness" as it applies to the isolation of a country from the world.I had a comletely different interpretation of the topic(more like your para 3).Tell me if you think this approach makes sense. (As before, I needed more than 45 mins to do this - do you manage to complete all your essays within the time limit?) "Both the development of technological tools and the uses to which humanity has put them have created modern civilizations in which loneliness is ever increasing." The author's statement raises the following related questions.Is loneliness increasing in modern civilization?If so, does either the development of technology or the manner of use (or both) contribute to this loneliness? To analyse the rather complex and debatable first question, one must consider the various socio-economic classes of people and their different needs for communication.For example, it is likely that a middle-class government employee has significantly lesser contacts on a daily basis than a city businessman who in turn, may have less contacts than the CEO of a top company.In addition, the personal and psychological makeup of a person is an important factor to be considered.A normally taciturn person is probably not specially loquacious when on the telephone and vice versa. However, technology introduces some other parameters including changes in physical distance of separation.Unquestionably, technology has brought closer people who were geographically far apart.The ubiquitous telephone has enabled real-time communication around the globe where earlier only letters were possible, which took days, even weeks to be delivered. But it is also certain that a degree of physical detachment has come to being acceptable, even normal.Parents today does not miss their sons/daughters so much when they go off to college because they can communicate regularly, by a variety of means provided by technology including e-mail, chatting and the occasional telephone call.On a personal note, when my sister spent four years at college in a different city, the physical distance was almost not felt at all because of the regular e-mails exchanged. The truth, therefore seems to lie somewhere in between - each type of person seems to have been affected to a different degree by technology with respect to his/her detachment from others. To answer the second question, we must keep in mind that change is brought in not by virtue of the mere existence of an alternative, but rather by people's acceptance and indeed, their interpretation of that alternative.Technology may be developed with one purpose in mind and may end up being viewed in a completely different perspective by the users.For example, when electronic mail was developed, it was intended only as a means of remote communication, not as a substitute for telephones, or to save paper, or to enable companies to communicate effectively with their employees.Blaming e-mail for increasing loneliness would be tantamount to ascribing to it, the rise of terrorism; because of the ease with which the terrorists can now communicate with each other for nefarious purposes.Clearly, only the use of technology is culpable, if at all. To conclude, it may not be possible to determine with complete confidence whether citizens of the "global village" are increasingly lonely or not, but the fact remains that their manner of use of technology contributes to this feeling rather than technology itself. Kaushik p.s. I seem to get all my best ideas after 35-40 mins . Perplexing...?