A Summer Reflection

As a last attempt to wrap up my summer homework, I am writing this post. I wanted to talk about the summer books and how they have affected my summer.

As I started to read the books we were assigned, I wasn’t very interested. All the scientific words and textual evidence in both The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, and Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman made me feel as though I was dragging through pages in college textbooks. As I read further into the books I began to contemplate the importance of what I was reading.

By the way the authors, explained how our brains worked and functions alongside the media, I began to finally take some interest in the book. Neurology and the brain's inner workings have always interested me. Since the start of summer I have become more aware of how technology can manipulate our brains and have therefore begun to limit my phone time. What is amazing is that my media limitation wasn’t a direct choice of mine but more of a natural change. As I become more self aware of media’s effects, as Postman suggested, I haven’t felt as controlled and attached to my phone.

I had stopped obsessing over my phone almost unknowingly. Now that I can reflect back, I realize I have spent majority of the end of my summer engaged in activities rather then worrying about my twitter profile and instagram likes. I have this year’s summer reading to thank for my new self awareness.

How did the assigned books shape your summer? Have you taken the author’s words into account? Have you or will you start paying attention to the manipulative ways of the internet? As long as we are aware of the effects of the media, as Postman says, we remain in control.

-Alyssa Peurrung