Essay Example on The Damage of the iWorld Andrew Sullivan the author of Society

The Damage of the iWorld Andrew Sullivan the author of Society is dead we have retreated into the iWorld is an Oxford graduate who received his PhD from Harvard Sullivan a contributing editor at New York magazine a blogger and an author has written extensively on a wide range of topics including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars civil liberties the legalization of marijuana human rights and the future of the media Andrew Sullivan was named Editor of the year by Adweek and has received multiple National Magazine Awards Andrew Sullivan In his essay Society is dead Sullivan shows how interpersonal social interactions have banished in the presence of technology Although Andrew Sullivan is admittedly a member of the iWorld he still sees the fault in our disconnection from society since the unveiling of the first iPod in 2001 In Society is dead we have retreated into the iWorld Andrew Sullivan explains that he noticed something extremely bothersome during his trip to New York Sullivan described how everyone had little white wires hanging out of their ears and how their eyes were catatonic Everyone was oblivious to the world around them as they existed in their own musical bliss One interesting point noted by Sullivan is the peculiarity of the silence while being surrounded by so many people 

He's saying how it s so weird to be in the middle of such chaos and to hear so little because everyone is silent listening to their music rather than interacting with one another A strong statement made by Sullivan in this essay is Now I have my iTunes in my iMac for my iPod in my iWorld we've finally put the i into Me We are so dependent on technology that it is a part of us Sullivan argues that Americans are slowly beginning to narrow their lives through technology which is what allows us to create worlds solely for ourselves Society is no longer social we each coexist within our own separate bubbles avoiding any communication with those who are around us At the end of his essay Andrew Sullivan describes how he recently left his iPod behind on a trip and how after a brief rush of panic he began to notice how the small social cues which he had become blind to made him feel more connected and more aware of the world around him Aside from the major points noted by Sullivan in his essay he also made many subtle ones through the use of vocabulary metaphors imagery and symbolism One metaphor used by Sullivan that stands out is his comparison of the former more famous New York to methamphetamine Sullivan also used imagery in his essay which helped to paint a picture While reading the essay I could see everyone walking down the street in their own MP3 cocoon and I was able to imagine the strange tuneless squawks coming from the iPod people as they tuned out everyone and everything around them Andrew Sullivan also used symbolism to relate technology to religion He argues that Apple Stores are like churches and the Genius Bars are pews with priests waiting to hear people s confessions or in other words what they've done to damage their devices I agree with Andrew Sullivan that technology is ruining our lives and causing us to miss out on numerous incredible opportunities People nowadays myself included are so shallow and simple minded due to technology and social media We re all slowly becoming more similar our individual personalities are diminishing Sullivan pointed out that it s as if we re on autopilot and that we re anesthetized by technology 

The second we step out in public our headphones are in our ears and we ve diminished any possibility for socialization We can t hear anything outside of our headphones and most of the time our eyes are glued to some sort of screen instead of appreciating the world around us not to mention our oblivion to any surrounding dangers Technology is slowly causing society to become dumber and dumber Instead of picking up a book to learn we tap a little square icon on our iPhones to play pointless games to pass time Technology is causing us to live such sheltered lives we don't see anything outside of our screens we're missing out on the great joys of life and the beauty of the world around us Technology is taking over the world and becoming more common For example my nine year old sister just got an iPhone for her birthday so instead of playing outside with her friends riding bikes or playing hide and seek she sits on the couch playing games on her phone in all of her free time My sister is going to miss out on the joys of being a child she won't get to experience all of the things that I got to experience when I was her age Works Cited Andrew Sullivan Professional Public Speakers Motivational Business Keynote Speakers Royce Carlton roycecarlton com speaker andrew sullivan spkr_videos section Sullivan Andrew Society is dead we ve retreated into the iWorld Sunday Times London 20 Feb 2005