How Computers Change The Way We Think

By Author: Sherry Roberts
Total Articles: 81
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How Computers Change the Way We Think presents a very interesting view on a subject that has been discussed a lot lately. As the name implies, the essay presents the author's views on how the introduction of computers has changed the way we work in our classrooms and work. This paper aims to analyze some main point and point out research about the same.
One can agree with Turkle that the computer has some aspects made us think less about what we do. In the part of word processing vs. thinking, she talks about how you don’t have to think about what you write when on the computer. One would completely concede since we often like just to spit out everything onto a word document then make alterations from there. Though one would go through a similar process on paper, it would appear much more tedious. It would involve making changes to every version of the draft and thinking about what one is trying to say instead of just writing down words and deciphering what one trying to say from there. One also would agree that as computers continue to evolve, the users take advantage of the machinery. Now that I am in a computer science ...
... class, I have a new appreciation for all the functions that a computer has, but how simple it is for users.
One of the obvious effects that computers have posted on people's thinking is in activating the sense of privacy. Many computer users assume that all activities when connected to the internet get tracked. For instance, one becomes develops alertness that cell phone companies record where we are at all times. People think that computers can track data that they send or receive as well as their communication. They thus have succeeded in alerting people of personal privacy. Another strong area presented by the article is the change of our thinking from a long discussion to making short, strong points through the use of PowerPoint. Several computer users have learned to make much presentable work rather than long conversations to deliver the same point surface (Turkle, 2004).
In the article, Turkle goes on to mention that computers have prepared people to become more willing to view things at an interface value and avoid probing below the surface (Turkle, 2004). One would agree with some aspects of this statement though not completely. The increase in complexity of computers and other forms of technology oblige us to take them at interface value. There perhaps no anyone who fully know every aspect of a modern computer. Computer programmers perhaps take a lot of the hardware at interface value. Hardware designers systems probably view a lot of the components like processors, transistors, and integrated circuits at an interface value. It's not figurative of how that causes people view or take things at face value in general aspects of their lives. Computers can encourage one to look at things deeper. Since the internet simplifies look up at things, we try to understand things at a deeper levels rather than accepting them just at face value.
Nevertheless, computers have caused a significant change in the way one can approach analytical problems. Learning computer programming and numerical methods can enlighten a person in new ways of approaching new and complex problems. Most programs make use of conditional programming and loops surface (Turkle, 2004). These can make one relate on how to simplify everyday problems and solve them step by step. Overall, one can say that this article is successful in bringing up a range of very good points. It is not easy to ignore how much computers have influenced the lives of everyone who uses them. At that point, one can concur with the author

Do computers really change the way we think?
Turkle’s article and arguments that computers have changed the way we think have attracted a lot of reactions. That has made some researchers to dig deeper to decipher the truth in the claims.
In her work, Turkle states that students are now become more intelligent in the overall presentation of certain ideas and issues (Turkle, 2004). According to her, PowerPoint has changed the displays of information and that a good presentation is not that with detailed information. PowerPoint equates bullets to clear thinking which get viewed as the most aesthetically pleasing (Turkle, 2004). However, according to Fiori, the result of presenting information in summary and PowerPoint-like format would make students put more faith in the presentations that they see rather than the thoughts that get developed in plain sight. These small interesting changes argued for by the article would not be favorable. Though they would allow students to go to school and master a material with much ease, they would render them narrow thinkers who cannot expand a point. As a matter of fact, students would not go to school without a computer since it would appear much difficult to reformat their thinking. In the long run, lack of a computer would become an ultimate set up for students' failure (Fiori, 2014). Fiori confirms that computers have changed the attitude of students (Fiori, 2014).
Turkle explains the ways that simulations have allowed and changed our binary thinking between problem-solution, scary-safe and quest-success. According to the article, we encounter simulations in many parts of our lives (Turkle, 2004). When watching movies or playing video games, we encounter simulations which change us. Our political systems, economic system as well as architecture and chemistry revolve around simulation. Dewilde and Lakhimi concur with this claim in their book ‘practical applications of computational intelligence’. According to the book, watching a movie triggers reactions that can affect our thinking and perception of something, people or belief. Turkles claim about simulations is, therefore, valid.
The article ends with a statement that, today people take a computer as a carrier of a way of knowing and a way of seeing the world.(Turkle, 2004). That makes a computer people (Turkle, 2004). According to the definition, a computer person is one who can use or manipulate a computer system. Most people have little to no idea how even the most simple programs work, and we do not think anything of it. It's thus hard for the computer to change us when we have no knowledge of how to use it (Brockman, 2011).
Technology makes our lives easier. It has somewhat removed our need to think. As Turkle puts it, the internet is one tool in a computer that can change our thinking. As Brockman puts it, we’ve become accustomed to a new way of being “alone together. Technology is a tool that educates us and conflicts our traditional thinking of concepts. Technology-has enable us to be with one another, and also elsewhere. Through internet, we can customize our lives virtually move in and out of where we are because the thing we value most is control over where we focus our attention. We have gotten used to the idea of being in a tribe of one, loyal to our party (Brockman 2011).
In summary, computers have become practical tools in our daily lives today. They have helped us in awareness of our privacy as Vamosi argues. It is thus to a degree feasible to regard that computers change our thinking about security (Vamos, 2011). However, many researchers are of the belief that computers are machines to help us think wider but not challenge us to think and act like they do. Computers enable easier digital learning as compared to the earlier methods. That is a method very conducive especially to those who cannot afford campus accommodation, fees and transport, as well as those busy with other activities such as businesses (Brocjman, 2011). The professors assign homework online and prefer typed assignments to handwritten answers. Turkle states in her essay that when the computers first emerged, people learned the technical knowledge about them (Turkle, 2004). However, the computers and computational technology evolved so rapidly that people couldn’t keep up with their novelties (DeWilde & Lakhimi, 2001). Today, a large number of computer users do not know much apart from the basics such as typing and surfing.

References
Brockman J. (2011). How Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?: The Net's Impact on Our Minds and Future. London: Atlantic Books, 2011.
DeWilde, P and Lakhmi C. (2001), Practical Applications of Computational Intelligence Techniques.

Fiori, A. (2014) Innovative Document Summarization Techniques: Revolutionizing Knowledge Understanding
Turkle S.(2004). How Computers Change the Way we think.
Vamosi, R. (2011).When Gadgets Betray Us: The Dark Side of Our Infatuation with New Technologies. New York: Basic Books

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in 24 hour college papers. If you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from medicine essay writing services.