Annotated Bibliography

Technology and Identity

Fredrickson, Barbara. “Selections From Love 2.0.” The New Humanities Reader. 5th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage, 2015. 106–121. Print.

Fredrickson analyzes how our brains process positive interactions and tackle the topic of love. Even though society has preconceptions about what love means, she describes love from a purely biological perspective and how daily simple interactions and conversations can create multiple stimuli across the neural circuit. She discusses neural coupling, the act of two brains being active on the same wavelength the more they talk to one another, and the powerful effects of the neurotransmitter oxytocin, which is released when humans have fulfilling experiences. Ultimately, better and frequent social interactions can physiologically make someone healthier.

James S. House, Karl R. Landis, and Debra Umberson (1988). “Social relationships and health” Science 241 (4865): 540-45.

This article focuses on how scientists are starting to find connections and relations between an individual’s health and their social relationships. The article explains how people with fewer, less substantial relationships with other human beings leads to a higher risk of death. There exists a plethora of evidence that correlates less social interactions with increased sickness and death. Now, there is evidence to prove that high mortality can be caused by low levels of healthy social interactions. In the end, it discusses the implications of high deaths because of low relationships, and what we must do to try to prevent this from happening more often.

Jerome Groopman, “Robots That Care: Advances in Technological Therapy,” The New Yorker, November 2, 2009. Web.

Robots are created to tend to people physically, making them feel better and stronger. Social robots are able to motivate and judge a person to provide them the best care, using biodata recovered through sensors. The robots react with body language, mimicking the style of human interaction. Finally, a balance must be found between a robotic appearance and a humanoid appearance, as this balance will make people associate with the robots more instead of be disinterested or afraid.

Thurman, Robert. “Wisdom.” The New Humanities Reader. 5th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage, 2015. 441–456. Print.

Inner demons control our existence and self, dictating our actions. Thurman argues that finding one’s true self is by actually removing these inner demons and become one with everyone around them, becoming selfless. The desire for our minds to have control and to possess, taking care of the individual first, is a flaw that results in self-centered and egotistic behavior. By realizing that being one with the environment is the true sense of self, humans can expand their definition of themselves.

Turkle, Sherry. “Selections from Alone Together.” The New Humanities Reader. 5th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage, 2015. 458–478. Print.

Turkle explains the grasp technology holds on today’s society and how our dependency has increased as technology has advanced. Humans use computers and social media as a medium in which they convey their emotions, which replaces the authenticity of human to human interaction. Technology has such a powerful hold over the minds of society that the line between reality and virtuality has been harder to distinguish. Turkle foresees many issues, one of them being technology replacing the livelihood of what makes us human.