Ariely Brainstorm Blog

I thought Ariely's study using the coca-cola was extremely interesting because by doing this, he was able to see how people were able to react when money was placed in front of them. Ariely was able to see through this study that not only do people feel more obliged to steal when money isn't involved, but they also could see the ways in which people act towards money when it's involved. My major question that I have after seeing this study is what if the price range for the money was raised instead of just having it be dollar bills? What if they were $5 bills and $10 bills? Would people still feel obliged to leave it there instead?

3 Research Sources

Intellectual Confusion on Morals and Economics 

The article discusses the ways in which our morals and intellect can come into play when we look into economic standards in our society. It also looks at the topic through a scientific lens of economic theory as the explanatory theory of behavior. The author addresses the major issues in which we go about conducting our morals into the economy and I feel that this article can be a major asset for my paper.

Behavioural Economics: Next Steps

The essay reviews select key accomplishments of a young field, behavioral economics, and then turns to suggest additional steps that are called for by the nature of the subject and the approach to its study embodied in the relatively new field. The article goes through the history of economics and key contributors who've made major contributions in the field including Ariely. 

 
The dark side of creativity: Original thinkers can be more dishonest

The article goes in depth about whether or not creativity can lead to people being dishonest. The article proposes that a creative personality and a creative mindset promotes individuals' ability to justify their behavior, which in turn, leads to unethical behavior. The authors back up their points with specific research studies that they conducted over time that were able to prove their main points in the first place.

Summary and Response to Ariely's Chapter 12

In Chapter 12 of Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational", he discusses an experiment that he performed that involved potentially cheating and stealing. His experiment was performed at a college dorm, where in two of the communal fridges, he put a 6-pack of Coke in one and 6-dollar bills in the other. Within about 72 hours all of the Coke was gone, but the dollar bills were still there. By doing this, Ariely was able to prove that people are much more likely to steal non-monetary items as opposed to actual cash. For some reason, Ariely pointed out that a lot of people feel less dishonest for cheating or stealing something other than cash. Ariely also talks about his own personal accounts of dishonesty where his Skype account was hacked into and he had a few hundred dollars charge into his PayPal. Ariely pointed out that he assumed it was a kid because he wouldn't expect a criminal to waste his time hacking into a PayPal account.

According to Ariely, cheating is easier when its one step removed from cash because it offers a much better incentive to the cheater and even gives them more motivation to achieve the task. His experiment was performed at a college dorm, where in two of the communal fridges, he put a 6-pack of Coke in one and 6-dollar bills in the other. He also used the example of stealing a pen as opposed to 10 cents, and how we feel worse about ourselves when we steal money as opposed to a measly pen. When money is removed from the equation, we feel more inclined to possibly take that item.  Ariely talks about the rising rates of identity theft that are seen in our world and how because someone's doing this crime behind a computer, it invokes a sense of dishonesty. We can also see this sense of dishonesty brought into other industries like insurance companies. Insurance companies can also commit fraud by improperly denying a policy holder or health care provider a benefit that is due. Ariely used an example of a friend who racked up frequent flyer miles for a vacation, and when he went to the airline to issue those miles they were blacked out. He was supposed to be given a free trip, but because of this, he now has to spend more money for his trips to rack up those miles again.

Summary and Response to Ariely's Chapter 11

In Chapter 11 of Dan Ariely's "Predictable Irrational", he brings up that there are many different types of theft that takes place in society. He discusses the fact that there are more reported thefts in white collar occupations than there are robbery theft. Ariely brings up the interesting question of why are white collar crimes judged less severely than others? He uses this as a lead in to bring up the two types of dishonesty that we perceive in our world: the people who invoke the idea that they are a crook and those who are seen as being the "honest" men and women of our society (white collar). Ariely brings up a study he did at Harvard, in which he had a group of MBA students take a 50 question multiple choice test, where he wanted to see if anyone would cheat when they were transferring their answers to the bubble sheet. Ariely was able to find that the majority of the students that were able to cheat did, but didn't cheat a lot, and it did not depend on them getting caught either. Ariely goes on to talk about how honesty is something that our society takes pride in, and that we need to have a sense of honesty to be able to get things done in our world.

Ariely places a big emphasis on trust and honesty because of the fact that dishonesty in his studies was only done to a certain extent. He was able to find that those who did in fact cheat on the test, only did it a little bit, not to the point where they were getting a much larger change in their grades. To curb dishonesty in our society, Ariely believes that we need to invoke the moral codes that advance our society into people's minds in an effective manner. By getting this done, it's reminding people that the only way to get far in life and be successful is mainly by focusing on your own personal work to make advancements for yourself. While this may be tough for people to do, I feel that it's crucial to invoke proper morals into people so they can be reminded that cheating isn't the way to make it in life. As a student, I can personally say that I deal with temptation on a daily basis because there are opportunities where I feel that I can cheat on a test or a quiz and get away with it. But I always have to remind myself that I would be lessening my own skills and decreasing my own moral values by doing this. Grades are valued so highly in today's world and at many times, students feel that pressure to do well in order to succeed. This leads to academic dishonesty and to students cheating on exams to try to better themselves.

Response to Ariely's Ted Talk

What mainly surprised me about Ariely's TED Talk was the notion that we are not always in control of our decisions. Ariely talked about how some companies try to add a third option as a means to try to catch the consumers attention when buying their products as well. However, just by adding a third option doesn't make it that enticing because sometimes you're paying extra for that companies product and it's not always the best way to go. He discussed how this tactic used by companies is sometimes a way for them to really just make more money, and they're getting the better end of the bargain. He also discussed the ways in which other countries try to get organ donors, and how some countries put "check this box if you don't want to be a donor" usually gets less checks in the box.

Chapter Two of Dan Ariely’s “Predictability Irrational”

In Chapter Two of Dan Ariely's "Predictability Irrational", the main points that he makes are that most of the time we have no idea about the value of certain products, but the main force that drives us to actually make purchases in the price tag on the item. Ariely's main points made in this chapter refer to the buyers perception of a specific product and not necessarily basing off of similar products prices or the competitions prices. He then goes on to discuss the idea of anchoring and how prices can be imprinted into our minds for various products. When that price is seen by consumers the first time, they believe that it may be the same price for the same product in other areas, therefore they may not have the desire to go search for a cheaper price.  People tend to pay a certain price for a product when they're first exposed to it, and this is the main force that drives anchoring. Ariely says that we shouldn't necessarily believe the first price we see on a product is going to be the same for the same product at a different store. He says that we should question ourselves and can't be so vulnerable to companies charging outrageous prices for their products. The idea of supply and demand is also brought up by Ariely, as he says that the demand for products tend to be more high then the supply, therefore companies can charge whatever price they want for a product and tend to get away with it.

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

The point this chapter makes is that most of the time we have no idea of the inherent value of a certain product and what we’re willing to pay for it depends on lots of things, but the first price tag associated with that product has a decisive role. - See more at: http://zsoltbabocsai.org/dan-ariely-predictably-irrational/#sthash.tTm5P81x.dpuf

Believing and Doubting Summary

In Peter Elbow’s “Believing and Doubting” the new idea of the doubting and believing games are brought up. Elbow begins by introducing how he came about with the idea of the doubting game, where he defined it as being similar to critical thinking that's the disciplined practice of trying to be as skeptical as possible with every idea we encounter. He stated that is it the opposite of the believing game,where we're disciplined through practice of trying to be as accepting or welcoming to every idea that we encounter. Elbow goes on to say that we honor systematic skepticism or the doubting game as the best form of thinking. It’s easy to doubt what’s perceived, but the whole point of systematic skepticism is to try to doubt what we find most obvious or true or right.

Chapter 2 of The Undercover Economist

In Chapter 2 of "The Undercover Economist," Harford explains that supply and demand isn't the only reason why people pay high prices. Hartford starts off the chapter using the London Eye as an example of scarcity power because it is a unique landmark, but it's also something that's optional. Hartford stated, "Everywhere you look around the Eye you can see vendors with scarce resources, trying to exploit that scarcity. Costa Coffee is the only coffee bar in the immediate area, for instance (page 31)." Hartford says that people can choose to not go to the London Eye, but because it's there and it's so unique, it draws people to pay money to be able to go. Hartford also brings in the idea that supermarkets have bought into the idea of price targeting.  He says that, "Above the main concourse of London’s Liverpool Street station, there’s a Marks and Spencer “Simply Food” store, catering to busy commuters on the way in and out of London (page 40)." This idea is prevalent to his main idea in his writing because he talks a lot about how important it is to have a good location if you're a retailer. Having a market right in this specific area, it can provide the retailers for a much better advantage when consumers come by because there are thousands of people who pass by every single day. 

Chapter 1 of Undercover Economist

In Chapter One of Tim Harford’s book, “The Undercover Economist,” the idea of strength of scarcity and why retailers have the ability to over charger consumers is explored in the chapter. Hartford goes into detail in this chapter by beginning to discuss the daily lives of a commuter and how they're all exposed to retailers along the way. For example, Hartford discusses the step by step process of being a consumer, saying how commuters will get off the train and will go to the local Starbucks because it's right next to the stop. Location is key in this situation, and Hartford goes into detail about why location plays such a pivotal role in making a profit as a retailer. Hartford stated, "Yet commutes also produce common patterns—bottlenecks and rush hours—that are exploited by entrepreneurs the world over (page 5)." Hartford also talks about the role that competition plays when you're a retailer and also the role it plays in over charging consumers. He says how when a resource is tougher to come by, then the competition to get that item will be much tougher. This ultimately allows retailers to overcharge for items and it's tough for the consumers because of the hole it burns in their pockets.  When looking at this idea when it relates to a college degree, I believe that just because you have a college degree, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get a job. For me personally, my goal is to become a sports anchor/reporter for television and the job market is extremely tough. Just because you may have a degree, doesn't mean you'll get a job right out of college.

Greene's Argument as Conversation Summary

SUMMARY:
 The main point that I took away after reading Stuart Greene's Argument as Conversation was the specific ways in which arguments can guide a conversation. For a lot of people, arguments can be seen as a negative aspect if it were to happen between people during a conversation, but Greene eloquently articulated the ways in which arguments can be used to inform and educate people. Greene also brings up questions for people to think about when entering a conversation in which you're developing an argument. Greene brought up three key points that are crucial when developing an argument, such as being able to identify the issue, identify the situation, and frame a good question that's specific enough to "guide inquiry" (13). These three topics presented by Greene are important because they're all building blocks towards developing your point. If you can identify the issue, that leads to being able to identify the situation, which can then lead to helping you frame a good question. The article also goes into detail about being able to frame, where Greene describes framing as a metaphor in relation to perspective for the writers to present their arguments.

QUESTIONS:
1.) What role, according to Greene, does reading play in the kind of writing you will be asked to do in college?

The role that reading plays in the kind of writing we're asked to do in college is rather significant according to Greene because learning how to write a research argument is viewed as a process of learning how to enter conversations that are already going on in written form. He talks about how the the concept of writing in dialogue is important, not only between the author and reader, but for being able to take that concept into real life conversation. For writers, they want the stuff they're writing to be in conversation format because it makes the reader feel more engaged.

2.) Explain the concept of framing. What metaphor underlies it? Why is the concept important for Greene? What does framing allow writers to do?

Greene goes into great detail about the concept of framing. Framing is a metaphor for describing the lens or perspective from which writers present their arguments. Greene uses the metaphor of taking a picture and blurring out the unimportant details, emphasizing a specific moment he wanted to capture. Greene says that framing really plays a significant role in writing and helps develop ideas, along with providing important details on what's being written. This concept of framing is crucial for writers because it allows them to get their message across to an audience, in a way that they feel should be done.

Summary of Intertextuality: How Texts Rely on Other Texts

A key point the Bazerman made in this article was the concept of intertextuality, which refers to the relation each text has to the texts surrounding. I've usually had an understanding of what type of information I should use in my arguments to help back up my points, and the concept of intertextuality goes well with that. Bazerman also goes on to talk about how ideas are similar to a web of connections and how there can be a bunch of thoughts moving around your head. Bazerman goes on to discuss the techniques of intertextual representation, discussing topics such as direct and indirect quotations used in text.

Socrates Quotes/General Ignorance and TED Talk Pursuit of Ignorance

 Socrates Quotes
 The Socrates quote, "The unexamined life is not worth living" has always been one that was intriguing to me because of the significance it has in such few words. The tone of the language behind the words, "not worth living" is what mainly stands out for me because it raised the question of whether or not a certain type of lifestyle is one that's not worth living? I feel that the only way we can thoroughly answer this quote by Socrates would be by looking at life through our own thoughts and ideas, and not anyone else's. It's about reflecting upon and evaluating our own personal thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives because it's those core values that shape each and every person. To look at life through another person's lens would be extremely difficult because who are we to to judge other people's practices and evaluate their lives? There's a lot more to people than we can see through our eyes, and it does society no help by judging everybody.

The next quote by Socrates, "To know, is to know that you know nothing", is one that also stood out to me. In my opinion, what Socrates meant by this quote is that the only way we can be true learners is by opening up our minds and realizing when we're wrong, so that we can learn from our mistakes. There's no way that we can learn if we think that we know everything already, which is absolutely impossible. Instead of holding ourselves to such a high standard of being an so called 'expert' on every topic, a wise person would admit that he or she doesn't know something, therefore allowing themselves to be educated.

General Ignorance and TED Talk Pursuit of Ignorance
According to Firestein, we can get students to step outside the boundaries of facts by putting into their minds that those who are able to get comfortable with uncomfortable topics will be the ones who reap the biggest benefits. The reasons why students don't always step outside the boundaries of facts is because they're afraid to challenge those thoughts and ideas. A lot of students don't feel comfortable stepping outside those boundaries of facts because facts are usually what drives beliefs.
For students to pursuit ignorance, they can't be afraid to ask the questions that go against the facts that are presented in everyone's daily lives. According to Lloyd, experts, specialists, and institutions are nervous about admitting ignorance because higher ups in the world don't want to be associated with ignorance. We can get people to deal with difficult or troubling ideas that challenge our beliefs by first identifying the belief and then searching for ways in which we can challenge it. A quote that stood out for me from the Firestein video was the one by Marie Curie where she said, "One never notices what has been done, one can only see what remains to be done..." This stood out to me because when you look at the notion of challenging others ideas and beliefs, you can only achieve that goal if you look at what has to be done in order to get your point across. When Lloyd says information is always challenging, that doesn't necessarily mean that we can never really know anything because information can always be challenged. We can always go against information presented to us because that's what really allows us to be educated.

Of course, as Socrates demonstrated in his own life (and death) being fully human (in the sense sketched above) can be extremely challenging. In a world of abiding uncertainty and complexity one can recognise a certain attraction in not examining too much, for too long in life. - See more at: http://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/being-fully-human/#sthash.f7Hv1IWP.dpuf

Of course, as Socrates demonstrated in his own life (and death) being fully human (in the sense sketched above) can be extremely challenging. In a world of abiding uncertainty and complexity one can recognise a certain attraction in not examining too much, for too long in life. - See more at: http://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/being-fully-human/#sthash.f7Hv1IWP.dpuf

Of course, as Socrates demonstrated in his own life (and death) being fully human (in the sense sketched above) can be extremely challenging. In a world of abiding uncertainty and complexity one can recognise a certain attraction in not examining too much, for too long in life. - See more at: http://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/being-fully-human/#sthash.f7Hv1IWP.dpuf

"TThe unexamined life is not worth living

Konnikova's I Don't Want to Be Right

In Maria Konnikova's article, "I Don't Want to Be Right", she discusses how people should get a message across to others without calling into question one's integrity, similar to the points that Mooney made in his article. The idea of self-affirmation refers to when people feel their sense of self threatened by the outside world and that they are strongly motivated to correct the misperception, whether it's by reasoning away the inconsistency or by modifying their behavior. The theory of self-affirmation fights different types of prejudices that are presented to us and even suggests that you should either write down or say aloud positive moments from your past that reaffirm your sense of self and are related to the threat in question. When people feel like they are threatened, this can be a great building block in putting someone in an even state of mind because usually when you're threatened, they're more likely to speak up. There's been debate as to whether this is the right thing to do, but nonetheless, people will correct something that's misinterpreted when they feel threatened. Konnikova also talks about how beliefs can be very difficult to change in people because beliefs tend to be what people stand by the most. When you look at facts, those are instances where people won't necessarily feel threatened because facts are plain and simple. They're things that can rarely be debated, which is why people don't really change their minds. People usually have to be emotionally invested for specific things for people to speak up about certain topics.

Emotional Fight or Flight Response

I am usually very open minded to knew ideas and beliefs that are presented to me, but there are times when I feel that I should speak up and point out when people are just blatantly wrong. This usually happens when I'm discussing sports with my friends, and I can't think of a specific instance because it tends to happen a lot. I'm very opinionated when it comes to sports topics that I feel I have a good background on because sports are my favorite topic to talk about. I was raised my parents to know when to speak up about things I care about and it just so happens to be sports. Whenever I get the opportunity to talk sports with people, I usually try to back up what I'm saying with facts and try to present them in a way that can be convincing to other people, similar to what was described by Mooney in our last article. There have been times where I've been wrong about a specific topic, and I usually just accept the fact that I'm wrong if it happens and try to use that knew found knowledge to use in another debate or conversation.

Summary and Response to The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science

SUMMARY:

In the article "The Science of Why We Don't Believe in Science" by Chris Mooney, he talks about how we're making discoveries in psychology and neuroscience, but they've demonstrated our preexisting beliefs and overshadowing the facts before we reach a precise conclusion in our research. Throughout this article Mooney used different examples to prove his thesis, as he discussed how reasoning can go hand in hand with emotions, and that sometimes our emotions can makes us biased. He talks about the different types of biases, such as "confrontation bias", which refers to how we can look at information that only supports our beliefs. Mooney also talks about how we can get information from reliable sources to back up our beliefs, but we can be too stubborn to look at information presented from the other side of the argument and that can be a downside to it. Mooney finishes his article by telling the readers to not lead with the facts, but to lead with the values that can be presented from both sides to allow for a more clear and concise presentation so things aren't taken out of context.

RESPONSE:
I agree with Mooney in this article because our emotions tend to come first and then our reasoning comes into play for a lot of things, and that's just human instinct. When we're put into a tough position, we usually rebuttal someone else's facts with what we already know. We would do anything to prove what we believe is right or wrong. Conformation and disconformation bias' factor into shaping our beliefs because they shape our beliefs into what we want them to be, refuting the facts. Weinberger's argument that knowledge is the network and that it's not easily swayed by compelling facts is true because we believe what we want to believe. It's human nature to have beliefs that can't be easily swayed by facts because our beliefs make us who we are. I always knew that our emotions played a role onto certain things, but what I never knew was that nearly everything around that is impacted on our individual beliefs. I agree when Mooney explains that we do not persuade people through facts and evidence, but rather through our emotions because it's not necessarily what you present, it's how you do it. Emotions can do a lot to people, and if you explain your facts in a way that can connect with people through emotions, then that tends to go a longer way than by just spewing out facts on a certain topic. While people will sometimes ignore the facts, it's important to be able to present your information in a concise, yet interesting way that will connect with other people that you're trying to reach.

Response to The Melancholy of Anatomy

In Wendell Berry's "The Melancholy of Anatomy", he says, "We have accumulated a massive collection of 'information' to which we may have 'access.' But this information does not become knowledge by being accessible" (14). This statement was a little bit surprising to me because with all the up to date information that we're able to get our hands on today, I personally feel that information is much easier to retain. Just because information in today's world is seen through Berry's eyes as being easily accessible does not mean that it's the wrong way to retain it. For me as a college student, and I'm sure the majority of college students could advocate for this as well, information you can receive at the palm of your hand is much better than reading through pages of a textbook.

We live in a world where most people get their information through technological devices, such as iPhone's and laptops. This is because it is much easier and much less time consuming this way, and I don't necessarily agree with Berry's points that he makes after reading his thoughts. Berry also goes into detail about the importance science has played in the development of our military by stating, "There are, we know, scientists who are properly scrupulous, responsible, and critical, who call attention to the dangers of oversold and under-tested products, and who are almost customarily ignored" (14). Berry acknowledges the fact that there have been negatives to science, but he does point out later the role science has played in the military industrial complex.

Berry points out that we should be in suspicion of the role that science plays in our world because the products are costly to consumers and bring power to governments and profit to certain organizations. At the conclusion of Berry's essay, he advocates for the health of the context in which we're retaining out information, whether it be "the body, the community, the ecosystem" (15), he just wants to gain knowledge in a healthy manner.

Weinberger's Too Big to Know Summary Revision

ORIGINIAL:
In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Because of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.

REVISED:
 In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Weinberger also states, "The internet has produced a lot of rubbage but it also has created sites like politifact.com, which fact checks political stories(Prologue xii)." With that being said, Weinberger points out that the internet does produce quality websites in which there can be facts checked for important information. Despite all of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.

When writing my revision, I felt that I didn't need to change much even after watching the videos and reading the text because I made sure to point out key elements of Weinberger's text. I added an extra quote and cited it in my revision to help back up my points I made as well.

Weinberger's Too Big to Know Prologue and Chapter 1

In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Because of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.