Aspects of rhetoric are often utilized to enhance an argument by allowing an individual to
select the most effective elements of his or her claim to convince others to see or even agree with
his side of the argument. Matt Richtel's 'Hooked on Technology, and Paying a Price' effectively
employs the ideas of kairos and the stasis theory to convey his claim that technology is, more or
less, becoming a detrimental distraction to all ages in today's society. The use of the elements of
kairos, such as the timeliness of the argument about technology and overall appeal to the
audience, and the components of the stasis theory, including the presentation of disputes against
the argument and the questions of conjecture, quality, and policy, aid Richtel in his argument
regarding the distractions of technology to successfully convince the reader of his claim.

Richtel begins the piece with a scenario, one that he often refers back to throughout the
argument to provide a constant situation to which the reader can relate. The argument he is
establishing is that technology has become an increasingly present distraction in our everyday
lives and, while there are clear benefits of the use of technology, the distraction that has resulted
from increased technology use is having a negative impact on society externally as well as
families internally. Richtel periodically alternates between the situation with Mr. Campbell, a
man who struggles to balance the time he spends with his family and the time he spends on
various technologies he has at his disposal, and inquiries that have been collected by researchers
regarding technology consumption. This alternation between a relatable scenario with Mr.
Campbell and his family and the researched information by professionals provides diversity that
keeps the reader engaged throughout the argument. This diversity also keeps the piece relevant
for the audience, a key element of kairos.

The timeliness of an argument is one of the key points of kairos, as it deals with seizing
the most opportune moment in a particular rhetorical situation. Technology has been increasing
at a rapid rate over the past few decades. Not only is it taking strides regarding how advanced it
currently is, but also in how it is taking over our lives in every form and fashion. From
applications that allow you to access emails more efficiently to cars that can operate almost
hands-free, technology is moving at a fast pace, advancing the way people interact with each
other within society. The interaction between people in society is what Richtel is arguing as the
largest effect from technology use because he believes that it has drastically changed over the
past decades and will continue to change. Richtel illustrates how urgent this issue of
advancement is by incorporating experts from various fields to comment on the increased
technology use among all ages. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse,
states that 'technology is rewiring our brains' and explains that the stimulation the
brain feels from using technology is very similar to the sensations that come from food and sex.
In another statement, Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San
Francisco, comments that 'we are exposing our brains to an environment and asking them to do
thing we weren't necessarily evolved to do' and that 'there are consequences'.
Including these statements from researchers allows Richtel to touch on the urgency of the
situation that society is in with the use of technology. He is able to outline how much technology
is changing our live externally and our bodies internally. He then moves to touch back on Mr.
Campbell and how his life revolves around the technology he owns rather than the family he has.
The integration of a small storyline, Mr. Campbell and his family, emphasizes Richtel's
awareness of the audience; it is evident that he aims to appeal to adults by using Mr. Campbell as
a relatable figure and also his family as a whole to demonstrate the entire effect that technology
use can have on a family. Adults can see the toll that Mr. Campbell's addiction to technology has
on his family and may even be able to relate based on their own personal situations. Richtel
outlines social interaction, such as family issues that the Campbell family has, as one of the
leading negatives to come out of technology use. While the negatives of technology use are
thoroughly highlighted, Richtel does refer to a few of the benefits of technology, improving his
argument by including the disputations as an element of the stasis theory to reinforce his
argument.

Including the opposing assertions shows that Richtel understands all sides of the
argument. He is able to keep his argument in one direction while also showing that he is aware of
the other side of the argument. Throughout the argument, the benefits of technology are
integrated to elucidate the opposing viewpoint of the argument. This allows the excerpt to flow,
as the positives of technology are inserted at appropriate times. While Richtel explains the rise in
technology use, he adds that the advancement of technology has allowed a fuller understanding
of the brain. This ties into his earlier argument that technology is rewiring the brain, which can
be studied more closely due to the new technologies that are available. Richtel also addresses the
common questions of the stasis theory by focusing on the issue of whether technology is bad.
Although he chooses a stance, both sides are presented to effectively convince the reader that the
distraction of technology is having a larger toll on society than many may think regardless of the
help technology has provided over the past few decades. He comes to his conclusion by quoting
communications professor Clifford Nass to tie his point into a single statement: 'We are at an
inflection point. A significant fraction of people's experiences are now fragmented'.
This tells the reader that one of the main points was how technology is changing the way people
act in society. Richtel also addresses the questions of conjecture and whether technology can be
changed. It is true that it has changed, but the question is if it can change for the better. Richtel
suggests that it can change for the better when he answers the questions of policy. Richtel
mentions a lead researcher, Daphne Bavelier, who 'channels these changes into real-world befits
like safer driving'. Although it is mentioned briefly, it is an action that can be taken
to improve the situation. The elements of the stasis theory, such as conjecture and policy, are
touched on briefly due to the fact that the kairos theory was a more applicable rhetorical device
for Richtel to use.

It is evident that Richtel effectively utilized the elements of kairos more than the stasis
theory because he seized the timeliness of the issue, as it is still very much a current issue at
hand. Richtel was able to emphasize how current and urgent the issue of his argument was
through kairos in order to convince the reader that technology is providing too much of a
distraction for our own good. The use of the stasis theory still proved efficient in getting his point
across as the main question of whether technology is good or bad was addressed thoroughly
throughout the argument. These rhetorical devices made the argument successful because it
effectively convinced the reader to look at the detrimental effects of technology. The addition of
a scenario to relate to proved to be a necessary element in this argument as it held most of
argument's evidence for the issue of distraction and its effects on family and society.

