SWA#2

The quote Richtel uses from his text, “technology is rewiring our brains” means just that. In today’s society, the majority of the population has become dependent on technology, whether it is a ‘Smartphone’, a laptop computer, a PC tablet, or any kind of electronic device. With technology surrounding us many people believe they have become a ‘multitasker’, which is making them more productive and able to do more things that before technology they were unable to.  But in actuality “heavy multitaskers have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information.” Studies showed that people who believed they were multitaskers were more likely to have a lack of focus and were unable to keep a train of thought.  But the brain is made to be constantly rewired and is always changing.  The brain doesn’t stop developing after childhood it is continually changing to suit the needs of each individual person, which Richtel goes into more detail with his ‘Myth of Multitasking’.

According to Richtel his myth of multitasking is just that, a myth.  People begin to link multiple trains of thought with the ability to multitask, when to me that is just someone say they may or may not have an attention deficient disorder whether it is mild or indeed a case of ADD.  Richtel included some studies of people who were classified as multitaskers and people who were not classified as multitaskers and were put through the same tests.  Those people who were classified as multitaskers showed that they had more trouble filtering out irrelevant information, than those who were not multitaskers.  My views of multitasker are that people who believe they can multitask may just have a mild case of ADD.  I say this as a person who used to think I was a multitasker, but realized I was the farthest from it.  When I start something, something else either distracts me or I isolate myself to make sure I get it done. Which means I have to put my cell phone on silent or turn it off, I have to turn off the internet on my computer, and normally close myself off so that I can indeed get the things done that I need to. 

Richtel does a good job with the Campbell family as a way to connect with his readers, because each person can relate to at least one person in the family.  Either the young adult/teen who is always texting and getting distracted because of the social media, the father/worker who is always distracted by work emails or news, the mother who wants everyone to dislocate from the technology, or the little girl who is just getting introduced to the wonder of technology and has already become somewhat dependent.  It drives the importance in that this is happening to everyone not just one family, and that it is an issue that is relevant in today’s age.