Literaure Review #2

How Computers Change the Way We Think

By Sherry Turkle

Turkle, Sherry. "How Computers Change the Way We Think." Chronicle of Higher Education 50.21 (2004): B26-28. Web.

Sherry's article goes into depth about the effects of how computer use is shaping the lives of young people focusing on their ability to learn and grow in personal and intellectual areas of their lives. She analyzes the computer and how these machines have emotional and cognitive effects on young people who have grown up during a controversial time period. She mentions the effects of software that translate into computer simulations that manipulate the relationships people have with technology along with their process of learning. Aside from the relationship a person builds with technology, she begins to look at the bigger picture and examine the contrasts of experiences between people who are in tune with reality and those who are not. Education and structure is alos introduced as she tells about the way computers have left people living in a transparent world filled with distractions and discontent. 

Sherry Turkle is a Professor of Social Studies at Massachusetts Insitute of Technology where she focuses her efforts on psychoanalysis of the human interaction between machines. She researches and studies this psychological relationship and writes about how these machines have become a big part of a human's life on a multitude of levels. Her research explains how technology has affected the way people think and feel and the issues that arise. She has published numerous books that discuss these modern day challenges. 

Key terms: technology, psychology, relationships, emotions, cognitive, process, computers, authentic selves

"Today's college students are habituated to a world of online blogging, instant messaging, and Web browsing that leaves electronic trace...." Page 2

"But some people who gain fluency in expressing...harder to develop authentic selves" Page 2

"In that aesthetic, presentation becomes its own powerful idea." Page 2

This article was valuable because it allowed me to understand how computers affect children at the young age of when they are first using computers. She puts into perspective a unique point of view about how children's  and habits lead them a stray of understanding who they truly are.