Computers the Effects of Heavy Essay

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Thus "we become accustomed to demanding rather than requesting, and we unlearn the skill of making someone feel good about doing what we need" (Coffee, 2002, p. 302). The experience of continuous demands from the computer runs counter to what is required for interaction with people. The inanimate object is there to satisfy all the cyber desires at the press of a key. A person will not function in the same manner. Interacting with flesh and blood requires a different attitude, which is not engaged when the computer is interfaced with regularly. The net result of that practice is diminished civility and a boorishness that impresses demands on others. To get services from people requires politeness and at times social grace; these are not involved in the digital interaction with the computer.

Perhaps the most damning element of excessive computer usage occurs when the virtual confuses the real, and this happens at times with deadly consequences. Horsburgh and Dodd (2003) forcefully recount a scenario where a young man dies while his virtual friends look on. They quote John Perry Barlow who says, "What makes this different is that the edge was blunted by being virtual" (p.306). There is a blurring of the virtual and the real. This blurring benefits the virtual world at the expense of the real world experiences. Persons who spend immoderate amounts of time in a virtual environment begin to interpret all life as virtual.

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Even the sight of an individual engaging in a self-destructive act does not have the kind of forcefulness it would have in the real world. The distance imposed by computer interaction serves as a barrier to assistance and even responsibility. This is blurring can have disastrous results even when the action engaged in is unintentional. The mother of the young man is "adamant that her son would never have intentionally killed himself" (Horsburgh and Dodd, 2003, p.306). This may be the most damaging element of the problem. The highly structured nature of the digital world insulates users from reality. Individuals are safe behind a computer screen and believe that they have control; nothing could be further from the truth. The potential for chaos and disaster is not limited because of the employment of distance. Real actions taken in a virtual context has real consequences. Herein lays the conundrum, the ability to transmit to young people that even in your home you are not safe. Dangerous acts will be debilitating anywhere.

Prolonged and continuous usage of computers damages social skills and creates the climate for thoughtless actions. There are dangerous consequences associated with uncontrolled usage of computers. It requires deliberate thought and action to avoid these outcomes; vigilance from all is demanded......

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