In reading Cognitive Technology Essays in the Transformation of Thought and Society, I was deeply disappointed with the caliber of work contained within. The premise of many of the papers was interesting but in the end the book failed to show something new about cognitive technology. “People are motivated to forge connections with others who see them as they see themselves ( Swann, 1990). Moreover, one needs to fell unique and valued among theses members ( Brewer, 1991)(McKenna, Seidman P.89). I found this type explaining of the obvious comical, although it is commonplace in academic papers it is still non-the-less comical. The conclusions that were drawn from this "in-depth study" that interviewed and tested nearly 300 people, came to the conclusion that connecting with people on the Internet to discuss health issues was beneficial. “ It is clear that the internet can be a useful tool for bringing people together and enabling them to meet important needs for belonging and acceptance that are otherwise being inadequately meet in their lives (McKenna, Seidman, P.106) I would have to agree with the some what half heartedly as I believe that much of human healing comes from direct human contact . I would venture to say that persons with diseases that are embarrassing to have such as Herpes or HIV, AIDS, Colon Cancer, would most likely benefit from the anonymous world that the internet provides.
I later this book discusses Cell Phone Use and Why It Interferes Driving Performance, What came out in this paper was that Cell Phones do interfere with driving because "Our research provided a controllede laboratory enviorment for assessing the impact of cell phone conversations on driving. We found that when drivers talk on the cell phone, their reactions to imperavtive events ( e.g., braking in response to traffic lights or decelerating vehicle) were significantly slower than when they were not talking on the cell phone." (p. 65). Earlier however in the essay they had pointed out that indeed there has been much research that has already established that indeed cell phone use does impair a drivers ability, the paper failed to establish the reasons why cell phone use impairs a drivers ability.
