Does Techonology Make Us More Alone?

BY MICHAEL GONCHAR SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 5:00 AM

Technology is supposed to make us more connected. We can stay in touch with our friends
all the time on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, and, of course, by texting. But are our
smartphones actually getting in the way of real socializing? Could technology be making us
more alone?

In the article Disruptions: More Connected, Yet More Alone, Nick Bilton writes about a
YouTube video that comments on our smartphone-obsessed culture.

Last weekend, I was watching television with a few friends, browsing the weeks most popular
YouTube videos, when a piece in the comedy section called I Forgot My Phone caught my
eye. As I was about to click play, however, a friend warned: Oh, dont watch that. I saw it
yesterday, and its really sad.

The two-minute video, which has been viewed more than 15 million times, begins with a
couple in bed. The woman, played by the comedian and actress Charlene deGuzman, stares
silently while her boyfriend pays no mind and checks his smartphone.

The subsequent scenes follow Ms. deGuzman through a day that is downright dystopian:
people ignore her as they stare at their phones during lunch, at a concert, while bowling and
at a birthday party. (Even the birthday boy is recording the party on his phone.) The clip ends
with Ms. deGuzman back in bed with her boyfriend at the end of the day; he is still using his
phone.

Ms. deGuzmans video makes for some discomfiting viewing. Its a direct hit on our
smartphone-obsessed culture, needling us about our addiction to that little screen and
suggesting that maybe life is just better led when it is lived rather than viewed. While the clip
has funny scenes a man proposing on a beach while trying to record the special moment
on his phone it is mostly sad.

Tell us

Does technology make us more alone? Do you find yourself surrounded by people
who are staring at their screens instead of having face-to-face conversations? Are you
ever guilty of doing that, too?
Is our obsession with documenting everything through photographs and videos
preventing us from living in the moment?
Do you ever try to put your phone down to be more present with the people in the
room?
Do you have rules for yourself or for your friends or family about when and how you
use technology in social situations? If not, do you think you should?
Do you think smartphones will continue to intrude more into our private and social
spaces, or do you think society is beginning to push back?
Can Money Buy You Happiness?
BY KATHERINE SCHULTEN OCTOBER 7, 2010 4:36 AM October 7, 2010 4:36 am

A Bucks blog post ponders a recent study from Princeton University that found that people
reported an increase in happiness as their incomes rose to $75,000 a year. Then, the impact
of rising income on happiness levels off, the post says. What do you think of this finding?
How much money do you think you would need a year to be happy? Do you think more money
would make you more happy? If so, then how, as the blog post asks, do you explain the fact
that there are plenty of people who seem to have very little money and lots of happiness?

In The Odd Relationship Between Money and Happiness, Carl Richards writes:
Can it really be that simple? Is there a relationship between money and happiness?

I understand that not having money to cover basic needs causes stress. Real stress. But we
have seen plenty of crazy (but real) examples of how varied the definition of basic needs can
be. Maybe it is more about expectations, desire and constant wanting than it is about actual
income. We all know people who make more than we do and are still not happy with their
income level.

If you believe that happiness can be reduced to a functional equation up to $75,000, then
how do you explain all those stories of people around the world with very little money and a
whole lot of happiness?

I have a friend recently returned from an extended trip to Nepal who was struck by how
little people had and how happy they seemed. Of course she was only there a few weeks and
that might not be long enough to draw any conclusions, but you get the point.

The moment we accept the idea that there is a magic income that maximizes happiness, we
have to deal with the reality that there are plenty of people who seem to have very little
money and lots of happiness.

Tell us
How much you think money influences how happy you are or how much you
imagine it will determine your happiness as an adult.
Is there a certain amount of money you think youd need to earn a year to be happy?
Are there things you think you would need to own to be happy?
How content are you with your life right now?
To what extent do you think that comes or doesnt come from having the
material things you need and want?
Do you know people who seem to be happy yet have very little money?
Do We Need Art in Our Lives?
BY MICHAEL GONCHAR NOVEMBER 26, 2013 5:00 AM November 26, 2013 5:00 am

Do we need art in our lives? Should viewing art be part of every childs education? Does it
make us smarter or expose us to new ways of seeing the world?

In the Opinion article Art Makes You Smart, Brian Kisida, Jay P. Greene and Daniel H. Bowen
write about a recent study on the educational effects of visiting an art museum.

For many education advocates, the arts are a panacea: They supposedly increase test scores,
generate social responsibility and turn around failing schools. Most of the supporting
evidence, though, does little more than establish correlations between exposure to the arts
and certain outcomes. Research that demonstrates a causal relationship has been virtually
nonexistent.

A few years ago, however, we had a rare opportunity to explore such relationships when the
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in Bentonville, Ark. Through a large-scale,
random-assignment study of school tours to the museum, we were able to determine that
strong causal relationships do in fact exist between arts education and a range of desirable
outcomes.

Students who, by lottery, were selected to visit the museum on a field trip demonstrated
stronger critical thinking skills, displayed higher levels of social tolerance, exhibited greater
historical empathy and developed a taste for art museums and cultural institutions.

Read the entire blog post, then tell us

Do we need art in our lives? Does viewing art matter? Does it make us smarter or
expose us to new ways of seeing the world?
Do you ever visit art museums? Do you enjoy the experience? What kinds of art do
you most enjoy looking at? Do you feel that art has changed you in any way?
Should viewing art be part of every childs education? Explain.