How Computers Change the Way We Think Essay

The evolution of technology has had major impacts on the lives of many people all over the world. One of the main issues that have been affected is the way people think in relation to different things. There have been a number of research conducted by different researchers so as to analyze the changes people have experienced over time. Sherry Turkle's article "How Computers Change the Way We Think" is one of the most important articles that cover the area and address some of the most important areas that computers have affected. There are other different sources that have covered this information and help one learn more about the changes associated with the computers.

Within the article by Sherry how people think has been affected due to how easy computers have done work for many. From the article she lets the reader know how the introduction of personal computers affected students.

"At a lunch for new faculty members, several senior professors in the engineering complained that the transition from slide rules to calculators had affected their students' ability to deal with issues of scale." (Turkle, 256).

It is possible to realize the issue associated to the introduction of computers in the learning sector. It has made work easier for the students hence the efforts the students used to apply reduces hence letting their minds relax as compared to before. Turkle goes farther and complains how this has made the student forget the most basic mathematics concepts since computers hardly give the students a chance to exercise their brains. From the article, the professors claimed that the use of computers resulted to them making more errors more than the others who did not use the computers. This shows a negative impact associated to how people think. The use of computers has managed to lower our thinking capabilities since they do most of our things.

How we think of security has changed due to the unlimited access to computers. Turkle addresses how privacy was an important thing in the previous generations before the introduction of computers which is not the case in our current world.

"Unlike in the past generations of Americans, who grew up with the notion that the privacy of their mail was sacrosanct, our children are accustomed to electronic surveillance of their daily lives." (Turkle 257)

People used to take security as one of the most important things that are hardly shared with anyone. Information such as a person's address was hardly shared, but with the introduction of computers, all this has changed due to the continued requirement of the information by different platforms within the computers. Children are able to access computers at such a tender age hence with limited understanding of there right to privacy. This has given the government more surveillance rights and other organizations which a major issue. All these security changes have been seen due to the unchecked privacy policies. Computer use has been evolving rapidly. Hence enough policies have been put in place so as to monitor the use of the computers to exploit the users' rights to privacy. The little understanding by the students on what democracy entails and that privacy is a right have affected the level of security the users receive. Turkle informs us that the use of the computers leaves an electronic trail that one can use to gather the personal information of the user.

Works Cited

Turkle, Sherry. "How Computers Change the Way We Think." The Chronicle of Higher Education.30 January 2004.

Kress, Anne and Suellyn Winkle. NextText Making Connections Across and Beyond the Disciplines: pg. 256-262. 20 October 2009.