Are People Cyborgs When Using Electronic Devices?

1. Dependency Seeing how attached a person can be to their smartphone can be shocking to a person who comes from a place where that type of technology isn’t necessarily prominent or accessible. If you go to downtown Toronto and look at all the people walking around with their smartphones can bring Amber Case’s statement to truth quickly. Looking at the people all over the streets and sidewalks using their smartphones you might actually look and think of some of those people as literal cyborgs. Have you ever talked to someone in person while they are looking at their phone and you realize as you’re talking that that person has not listened to a single word you’ve said because they are too focused on whatever is on the screen in front of them. Downtown you will see people that look like there is no other care in the world than what is going on right in front of them on that screen. There are people that are walking around, crossing busy streets without even taking a break to look up and make sure it’s safe before they move. This is based on peoples dependability on their technology/smartphone.

2. Emotional Attachment Have you ever seen someone freak out after thinking they’ve lost their phone or gotten their phone taken away by a parent or teacher. That shows how something as small as a smartphone can affect someone emotionally. Thinking about it, a smartphone or computer has information and accessibility to things around the world at your fingertips, as well as the ability to talk to others without having to see them in person. Clearly, that is enough to turn people into “cyborgs” when they use their devices. Since you require a device to access the internet or games, people become attached to the devices they use in order to access the things they may be dependant on or addicted to. According to the course content, 61% of Canadians are addicted to the internet, and 18% of internet users are addicted to games. (Poll Survey by SodaHead). Obviously price becomes a factor for people to even own these devices, but with the development, comes the easy accessibility and affordability for almost all people in North America and many other parts of the world to have these things.

3. Conclusion In Amber Case’s TED talk, she makes a very interesting point similar to what I stated earlier. She said that the amount of information people store on their technology causes them to feel like something is missing when they lose their device, and that technology helps us become more human. I found this point very interesting because it was very accurate in the sense that technology is helping people connect with other people very easily, which as humans we naturally want to do. Overall, I do agree with the fact that people are “cyborgs every time you look at a computer screen or use one of your cell phone devices” because of the fact that from personal experiences and seeing the effects peoples smartphones have on them.

4. Can A Person Be A Cyborg? “8 in 10 Americans depend on cell phones.” (Chansanchai, Athima). Electronic technology has developed and continues to develop at a rapid rate making it more accessible to people creating a high demand and increasing a person’s dependability on these technological advancements as part of their everyday lives, such as; smartphones. Amber Case said “you’re cyborgs every time you look at a computer screen or use one of your cell phone devices.” (Case, Amber). I agree with this statement based on seeing personally how dependant people can be of their personal devices. With 4.8 billion google searches by Canadians per month, (6S Marketing), I believe that this statement by Amber Case is accurate because of how dependant people are of their electronics for several reasons.

5. References Video - T. (2011, January 11). Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1KJAXM3xYA Anderson, M. (2015, April 01). 6 facts about Americans and their smartphones. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/01/6-facts-about-americans-and-their-smartphones/ Chansanchai, A. (2011, August 15). 8 in 10 Americans depend on cellphones. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.nbcnews.com/technology/8-10-americans-depend-cellphones-121536 J. (2015, April 05). How Much Do We Depend on Our Smartphones? Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/how-much-do-we-depend-on-our-smartphones.html/?a=viewall Infographic: Canadian Internet Use Statistics: Search, Social, Mobile. (2016, July 28). Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.6smarketing.com/blog/infographic-canadian-internet-usage-statistics/ Picture - https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/rtx29pto.jpg?quality=80&strip=all