Blog Set 2: Passengers

        Technology is everywhere; this is a known fact in everyday life. It is used to ease life's chores or to enhance experiences. The current mindset of our culture is that we own the technology; it doesn't own us. But what if technology is silently taking away our control? For example, what if it is taking away our control over how we interact with one another? A human practice refined throughout the ages. What if technology had taken such a major leap in the past decade that we were given a cloak of belief that we still owned our socializing powers. In the short story "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg, a hypothetical situation in where "beings" transport themselves into humans and "ride" while their host, unknowingly, partakes in their abusive adventures. As these more powerful beings enjoy the use our human bodies, after the event is done, the human is left with little to no memory. But something occurred: one person was left with enough memory to try and save another from the repeated inevitable.  There was no chance of success.

​The story is foreshadowing technology taking away our control of social interaction. A hundred years ago, letter writing, social cocktails and family/friend gatherings were the social norm. Jumping ahead to the 21st century, Facebook, Twitter, Email and other computerized forms of communication have taken over. The technology is the "rider" and we are the empty vessels: endlessly slaving to keep our social status likable for the masses. The control is to some degree is lost. The art of face to face interaction has been diluted and when we take away our technology masks, we are left straining to save the one's we love from falling into the bottomless pit of "likes," followings, and trash articles that do not enhance our life in general. Similar to the "riders," technology is using us more and more. Technology is dictating how we should look due to the latest internet fashion trends, where we should live based on an internet poll of the happiest places to live or what should we eat from the research study of the best five fruits you should include in your diet everyday post. We have lost control of our social interaction. We allow the "rider" to ride us every day, every time we hit that "like" button.