Are digital technologies directing us or are we directing it? How does social media coverage affect our viewpoint of the Ghouta chemical attacks?

The author argues that modern technology (cell phones,i pads, e-mail accounts,social networking sites
and the internet) controls human interactions with each other.According to Rushkoff humans allow
modern digitial technology to change the way their life is experiences. He claims that the way we
purchase goods and services and communicate with each other on a daily basis has changed
dramatically from how we interacted with each other before the digital revolution.In his book, Program
or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for the Digital Age, Rushkoff claims that human interaction has
become distant and less up close and personal as well. The authors main purpose for writing the book is
to advocate for digital awareness and tell the digital technology generation that they should start
directing how digital technology impacts them instead of allowing digital technology to decide how
they will be impacted.

Evidence does the author use to support arguments
In the Ten Commands for the Digital Age the author mainly uses two types of evidence to support his
argument throughout book. The two types of evidence he uses are facts, judge and personal testimonial
evidence.Another method the author used to argue his point was by making references to well
documented literary work.

In Rushkoff Chapter about “Time” he employs facts and judgement in the text in order to produce a
more effective argument about how digital technologies are biased against time and how “ we end up
divorcing ourselves from rhythms,cycles, and continuity on which we depend for coherence.”Rushkoff
states:
What's different now, however, is that its not just list dates, and recipes
that are being stored for us, but entire processes.The process we use for
finding a doctor or a friend, mapping a route or choosing a restaurant
are being replaced by machines that may in fact, do it better. What we
lose in the bargain,however, is not just the ability to remember certain
facts, but to call upon certain skills.
(Rushkoff, 33)

Rushkoff talks about how new modern technologies has given our society choice as whether or not we
will use telephone books and rely on word of mouth to find people or rely on smart phone applications
and Google although he refrains from directly stating specific types of technology commonly used
today in the chapter. He uses factual evidence by because it is a fact that much of our society relies on
digital technology in lieu if relying on the old school methods of getting information.Being that people
now rarely use compasses and paper maps for traveling to one city to the next and instead they choose to
use GPS navigators on their phones and other devices the type of evidence Rushkoff uses aids him in
persuading his readers that modern processes have played a large role in changing the way we retrieve
information.

In the “Place” chapter the author talks about how digital technologies are decentralized technologies.
According to Rushkoff digitial technologies “work from far away, exchanging intimacy for distance.”
The author gives his readers a personal testimony in order to convince the reader that he has drawn a
solid conclusion about the point he makes in this chapter being that he has personally witnessed humans
replacing face to face social interactions with digital technologies such as online simulations. Rushkoff
talks about an experience he had with being escorted by a college administrator to a classroom that had
been used for a model of the United Nations for the past ten years. According to Rushkoff that year
things were done differently. Instead of having the students re-create the General Assembly in their
classroom, they would do it in an online simulation called Second Life he said. “When I got to the
room, I saw forty students sitting at desks outfitted with high resolution computer screens”
(Rushkoff,43). The author claims that students were in the same place at the same time,however they
were not looking at one another except for “the monitors on their desks.”The author personal testimony
is employed in the text in order to convince readers that digital technology has contributed to humans
becoming more distant.His personal testimony helps the reader understand why Rushkoff has come to
the conclusion he comes to in the “Place” chapter.

In the “Choice” chapter Rushkoff talks about how digital technologies have forced us to make
decisions or choices we would not have made without such technologies in place to assist us with
making decisions. He talks about an experiment a scientist from Stanford conducted in order to provide
his readers with evidence that digital technologies play a huge role in the choices we make. He also
seeks to convince readers that digital technologies give us a false perception of what real life
experiences we've had. Rushkoff states, “A Stanford scientist testing kids memories of virtual reality
experiences has found that at least half of children cannot distinguish between what they really did and
what they did in the computer simulation” (Rushkoff,63). Rushkoff use of findings from a scientist at a
credible university is effective in persuading his readers that there is some truth behind the conclusions
he has come to about the digital realm and its effect on human choices and its impact on the validity of
real life experiences.

 Evidence the author uses to support arguments
The types of evidence the author uses such facts, personal testimony and experiments supports his
arguments because it enables him to provide his readers with a logical argument. The authors
argument is logical because he provides he uses facts about what digital technologies are capabilities in
order to proof that digital technologies has the ability to replace human ability to figure out how to find
places and people.Therefore, it is reasonable for him to make a claim that these technologies can replace
our ability to “remember certain facts,... and to call upon certain skills.”

Also the author is effective in supporting his argument by using personal testimony being that his
readers are more likely to believe that digital technologies are capable of making us more distant in our
social interactions with each other because Rushkoff personally witnessed how online technology
created a distant relationship among st students sitting next to each other inside of one classroom.
Lastly, Rushkoff mentioning of a experiment the Stanford scientist conducted on children aids him in
persuading his audience that digital technologies can alter a persons judgement and direct the choices
they make.

Counter Arguments
Although the author makes a logical argument in the text he some people in our society may disagree
with the conclusions he has made. They may disagree with him for the following reasons. First not
every one is heavily influenced by digital technology and social network sites. They are not
controlled by them because there are some people that rarely use the internet and instant messaging or
even smart phone applications.Some people may login to the internet only to read online news
publications or conduct research. While there are other people who find their selves becoming slaves to
the digital world because they have created multiple online social network accounts such as Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram that they seem to always be connected to from their mobile and laptop devices.
Also some people may criticize the authors claims that digital technology direct us instead of us
directing it being that they believe the digital technology doesn't direct our behavior.Some people may
believe that this technology simply assist our society in becoming well informed people who are more
socially interactive with each other as a result of modern digital technology. For instance I find myself
conversating more frequently with relatives on Facebook then I would be if I did not have a Facebook
account at all. Due to my busy schedule I may not have the time to call my cousin and have a
conversation with him or her.However, I can maintain an ongoing social relationship with my relatives
and even become more closer to some relatives I rarely see face to face because Facebook chatting
sessions have enabled me to do so.

Although the authors argument is open for debate and criticism he does provide valid and logical
evidence about the conclusion he has made about digital technology. The facts, personal testimony and
even the experiment evidence he uses is effective in persuading readers that his viewpoint is
reasonable. For instance as I thought about the authors argument I realized that online media and
social networking sites such as twitter has convinced many people that the Ghouta Chemical attacks in
Syria perpetrators where the Syrian government. Individuals who he avidly rely on online media and
social networks to get information about news and form opinions about such current events may not
take the time to conduct research and critical think about the events having occurred in Syria.Therefore
they could easily believe that its is an undisputed fact that the Syrian government is responsible for the
Ghouta Chemical attacks. So from 1-5 I give Rushkoff a 4 for the effectiveness of the argument he
makes about modern digital technologies impact on us.
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