Professor Melissa Filbeck
English 114B
9 May 2014
Consumption
The living creatures that inhabit the world can alter its future. Some might say that technology is one way we altered the world. In the book Feed by M.T. Anderson, the universe has been altered by their technology. The humans have created this new technology called “The Feed”. This chip is implanted into people’s heads when they’re born. It grants humans the ability to communicate through their feeds, look up anything, or it finds something they want before they even thought about it. Although it seems like a great place to live in, there’s always a dark side. Their lack of caring for the world has turned on them. The teenagers have obtained scabs that bleed due to the radiation. The forests have also been cut down due to making room for “Air Factories”. The message that the author is telling the readers is that the advancement of technology is consuming society and old traditions can prevent it.
The excess of technology the humans use in the book can be comparable to the real world. In the article “Excessive Use of Technology Affects Our Lives” by H.T.C., it tells us how much we depend on technology. “People we believe that the more technology we use and learn, the more advance we become, and the more connected we are. We are so dependent on technology today, that many of us can’t imagine a world without our favorite gadgets, such as cell phones, iPad, or laptops”. This shows us that even our real world depends on technology. We even believe that if we use technology and learn from it, we would be more connected as a community. The fact that he says, “that many of us can’t imagine a world without our favorite gadgets” makes us really think of how dependent we are with technology. Apparently, we have no way to identify if a child is smart or dumb because of the technology at their disposal. “We have no way of measuring dumb and smart in an information age, because if we don’t know something we can always do an Internet search for it and we will most likely find the information we are seeking”(Excessive Use Technology Affects Our Lives). Nowadays most humans have availability to a nearby computer or smartphone. This is where anyone can look up information via Internet or some kind of app. Just like the Feed in the book, people use their computers to gather information for school or just in general. In one part of the story, Titus was trying to think of a word that describes Violet’s back. “Her spine was, I didn’t know the word. Her spine was like…? The feed suggested ‘supple’” (Anderson 14). This explains that people in the book are too reliable in their technology. It is as if the feed was a digital dictionary in their brains. They expect the feed to give them the answer they want and help them in life.
This brings up the topic of how our generation makes use of our technology. Although our technology isn’t as advanced as the books, they’re people who excessively use the computer and afflict pain on themselves. “However, one thing is certain, the excessive use of computer that goes unmonitored, can expose children to harmful effects, such as physical, social and psychological development. Children who use the Internet for a long time are also at risk of being exposed to inappropriate violent, sexual or commercial content, and behavior” (Excessive Use Technology Affects Our Lives). Exposing children to inappropriate violent, sexual or commercial content is relatable to the book. When Titus and his friends go “mal” they are basically using a site to configure their senses. This would be an act of inappropriate violent content. “We found the site. It had all these meg-ass warnings all over it…and then suddenly it hit me all at once. It was colored bricks, first, and I fell down because they were coming too quick” (Anderson 238). The characters then went into public and caused a ruckus. This made the public very annoyed and cautious with these particular people. This affected the characters in a physical, social and psychological level.
In another article from South University by Laura Jerpi titled “Mobile Phones and Society”, there are many statements that talk about people and how they use their mobile phones. “I have heard people say that they are afraid they will miss something if they do not do the checking,” she says. “And when people are not doing anything else they tend to interact with their phones to distract or entertain them. I have seen people in the line for the bathroom playing with their phones” (Jerpi Par. 19). This statement shows that many people with a smart phone are excessively using it to waste time. Not only does this affect a person’s attention span, but it also makes people less social. The next quote shows how unsocial we can get from using the smartphones superfluously “Research demonstrates that phones are eroding our ability to communicate in face-to-face dialogue and reducing family conversation” (Jerpi Par.26). When people are shy from talking face-to-face they usually go with the technology to solve their problems. Whether it is a smartphone or a computer, it denies physical communication in society. This is bad because we’re growing a generation with little to no physical social skills. This will affect them in the long run whether it’s job interviews, making friends, or networking.
In the book, people were actually protesting against the feed. “They were protesting all these things… They were shouting, ‘Chip in my head? I’m better off dead’ ” (Anderson 38). The fact these people were rebelling gives us a hint that the author wants us to have a different view of the feed. A quote that relates to the previous quote would be when Violet got her feed installed at a late age. “They say, he told me, ‘That it was the late installation that made it dangerous. The brain was already wired to operate on its own’” (Anderson 288). This gives us a clue that the feed is basically a brain of its own and tries to corrupt the mind of the young while it’s still developing. I believe the author is stating that we should be wary of the technology we use and what the consequences are. Violet ends up suffering some of these consequences while getting her feed fixed. “I lost a year. During the seizure … The information is just gone. There’s nothing there” (Anderson 215). It shows us that there always side effects in technology. Although the device might operate well and have some useful functions, there’s always a cost that affects the person and the people around them. An example would be using the computer redundantly. In the article “How Computer Addiction Works” by Ed Grabianowski, it tells the readers how computer addiction can be a huge problem, and how it affects the user emotionally and physically. There’s a quote that explicitly tells the readers how excessive computer usage can affect a user emotionally. “Eventually, excessive computer use can take an emotional toll. The user gradually withdraws into an artificial world. Constant computer gaming can cause someone to place more emotional value on events within the game than things happening in their real lives” (Grabianowski pg.3). As the quote states, excessive use can take an emotional toll on the user, which can trigger unsocial behavior and choosing virtual life over real life. This is a serious problem for our generation and the future generation that will have more technology at their disposal.
Technology isn’t the only thing that can entertain a person. In the book, Titus and his friends make a game while their feeds are taken away. “So Marty invented this game where we blew hypodermic needletips through tubing at a skinless anatomy man on the wall… It was the beginning of a great day, one of the greatest days of my life” (Anderson 57). Even this basic dart game made the characters entertained. Titus even states “one of the greatest days of my life.” This shows that the main character never grew up with a real childhood, where playing with rocks and sticks was the best time of our lives. Our generation is now consumed with technology that entertains the children with video games such as the tablets. Luckily enough, my childhood was going outside and playing with neighborhood friends, and not isolating myself with technology. These simple old traditions were new to these characters and made them actually think for themselves.
The people that have a feed are oblivious to many things. “No one with feeds thinks about, she said. When you have the feed all your life, you’re brought up to not think about things. Like them never telling you that it’s a republic and not a democracy… Because of the feed, we’re raising a nation of idiots. Ignorant, self-centered idiots” (Anderson 113). This represents that people with the feed are incapable of thinking for themselves. The feed is raising a nation of “idiots. Ignorant, self-centered idiots” that are consumed by technology.
The author’s message can be interpreted in many ways. This is what I interpreted from reading the book. Although I can’t fully agree with the author that technology will consume us, I do agree that it has changed the way we accomplish things in society. The society I used to know was very outgoing and social. Compared to the older generations, our community has made isolation acceptable and hasn’t pushed physical interaction. Old traditions also have an effect on how lifestyles differ from people who have technology at their disposal.
Works Cited
Anderson, M. T. Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2002. Print.
“Excessive Use Technology Affects our Lives” H.C.T. Hcadet, 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hernandocadett.com/content/excessive-use-technology-affects-our-lives>.
Grabianowski, Ed. "HowStuffWorks "Computer Addiction Effects"" HowStuffWorks. N.p., 16 Oct. 2007. Web. 09 May 2014.
Jerpi, Laura. "Mobile Phones and Society - How Being Constantly Connected Impacts Our Lives." South University, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. <http://source.southuniversity.edu/mobile-phones-and-society-how-being-constantly-connected-impacts-our-lives-137313.aspx>.