In Matt Richtel's piece 'Hooked on Technology and Paying a Price', Richtel
highlights the pressing matter of technological advancement. As companies like Apple,
Nintendo, and Panasonic crank out thousands of products annually, electronics become
ever more present in nearly every realm of daily living. This technological invasion is
outlined in the family Richtel writes about. Kord Campbell, an individual whose entire
being revolves around technology, sees the effects it has on his life on a day-to-day basis.
He has missed emails vital to his business ventures, he cannot put down his phone long
enough to enjoy a family vacation, and his children have begun to show signs of a
dangerous attachment to their own devices. Mr. Campbell's son has 'recently received
his first C's' and his daughter tells him 'he favors technology over family' (Richtel 89).
By using this family as a template, Richtel forms an eloquently constructed, effective
argument in order to persuade his audience to limit their use of technology for the benefit
of all.

Richtel demonstrates the threats these devices impose on safety, functionality, and
relationships as displayed in the Campbell household. These digital links to the outside
world create distractions that can 'have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-
wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks'. Lives have been lost due to the
magnetic attraction of a text message and the ever-present pull of social media. His use of
this example directs the reader's attention to the serious issue at hand by way of kairos.
Focusing on the fact that something so irreplaceable is being ripped away from us with
each passing day makes his argument more effective. The reader can no longer turn a
blind eye to how urgently a change must be made. The issue of technology is not only
present in the short-term, but also the long-term with continued exposure.

Scientific studies have shown that people who use technology heavily have a
difficult time or can no longer block out unnecessary information. Interruptions from text
messages, tweets, or Facebook posts split the attention much like multitasking does.
Functionality is impaired because humans can only work effectively on a single task at a
time. Mr. Eyal Ophir, the conductor of these multitasking studies, once had a professor
thank him for 'being the one student in class paying full attention and not using a
computer or a phone'. This example is another credit to Richtel's use of kairos.
What happens when future doctors do not listen to what their teachers are saying? What
is happening today can have serious consequences in the future. With another display of a
need for an urgent change, Richtel forms a stronger connection with his audience. He
takes an instance in which all users of technology can relate to'being distracted in
class'and makes them realize it is more serious than they have been led to believe. This
awareness of what his audience is going through increases effectiveness within the
argument.

Richtel then defines the existence of this problem as: 'technology is rewiring our
brains'. From his use of ample scientific studies discovering a change in the human
brain due to technology exposure, his theory is supported. He asks what results because
of these internal neural changes; are they positive or negative? What he discusses next
relates to his audience on other levels'psychologically and emotionally.
The changes, both outwardly and inwardly, can sometimes become an

unconscious habit. He says that heavily using technology 'diminishes empathy by
limiting how much people engage with one another'. This lack of attention, in
combination with the abandonment of human interaction, is viewed by the masses as a
bad, impermissible action. Humans rely on social interactions to survive, to thrive, to
grow, and to learn. The result is without the computer screen, keyboard, or phone as a
buffer, proper social etiquette and expectations have been stunted within the human
psyche. The quality of his argument, through this means of elaboration, is heightened. He
makes it clear that this distancing from our loved ones is wrong.

Richtel does incorporate an opinion from Mr. Campbell, the consumer of choice
with a supportive viewpoint, so as not to exclude members of his audience. Mr. Campbell
says that, whether he had access to his devices or not, he is a man of obsessive nature.
Regardless of technological presence, he would have found himself immersed in
something else. Richtel includes that Mr. Campbell must ''work to suppress'' the urge to
indulge in his technological craving even while on family vacations and sorting through
relationship issues. This one inclusion swings his argument back into his
court and his explanation of this response nails down exactly what he's been trying to
assert throughout his argument: 'Kord Campbell does not bother to suppress it, or no
longer can'. That sentence maximizes the effectiveness of what he's saying in both
realms of readers: those who agreed initially and those who needed some extra
persuasion. This sentence says that even those who are completely supportive of using
technology have problems with unplugging.

This inability to suppress the urge is also displayed in Lily, Mr. Campbell's two-
year-old daughter, who only gets an hour of free time each day. She spends that time on
her laptop. She is so immersed in whatever activity she is performing at that time
that she is completely unaware of anything going on around her, no matter the amount of
noise, importance, or who may be there. In order to combat this issue, time limits have
been placed on her allotted usage and every night after dinner the Campbell family has a
technology-free study session. 'It feels, Mr. Campbell says, like togetherness'.
Within the same family, we see a battle between the two viewpoints: one for and one
against. These problems became so troublesome that the family formulated their own
personal in-home policy about what should be done to make corrections.

Broadening the grasp technology has over varying age ranges widens Richtel's
audience, alerts his readers to an occurrence that should not be happening in such a young
age group, and redefines the concept of time management issues'such as when Lily
loses herself in her devices'to include the role technology has in the equation. At this
point, Richtel has created a platform to effectively introduce what he wants done. He
believes that having control over our technology would reestablish relationships, bringing
back the wholesome family togetherness his audience desires.

Richtel's implied policy is to put down our devices. He wants us to pay more
attention and do things together, which is the way we as humans demonstrate our feelings
for one another. It shows that we care more about the person in front of us than the goal
Brazil just scored in the soccer championship or the email Amazon just sent. We must not
lose our ability to share and understand the feelings of the ones we love. That empathy is
'essential to the human condition'. There must be a point where we recognize that
technology, the tools meant to make our lives easier, are actually the ones ruining it.

