Richtel does a great job of using Kairos and Stasis theory to convince me of his argu-
ment that the community as a whole is paying the price for the addiction to technology and its
effects on people, in his essay 'Hooked on Technology, and Paying a Price.' Because the topic
of technology is so timely and so prevalent today it was worth while to read it. Even though I
wouldn't have necessarily agreed with him before reading the essay, because I myself am
wrapped up in my phone, I do see his point now that I have read it. 

The topic of technology is very timely and is used all around the world today and effects
so many people's lives. His choice of this topic was huge in its success for hooking a reader be-
cause so many people are interested in it and therefore, are more likely to read it. The twenty
first century has had a huge growth spurt of technology and there couldn't be a better time to
talk about it. The topic is urgent because it continues to effect people's lives daily. Richtel points
out that it is slowly corrupting peoples social skills crippling their relationships and instead peo-
ple are starting to depend on their phone to do it for them. The author shows awareness of his
audience by using a relevant story of the Campbell family and how they function with technology
to show the detrimental causes on people, brains, and their relationships.

Richtel points out that gadgets and technology destroy the relationships between people
by distracting them from things that are important in life. In the Campbell family, technology dis-
tracts the kids from homework and education, negatively impacting their grades. Mr. Campbell
often forgets important things like dinner plans and has trouble focusing on the family. 'He has
burned hamburgers on the grill, forgotten to pick up the children and lingered in the bathroom
playing video games on an iphone,' says his worried wife. Grades, family, friends, brain func-
tion, happiness, social skills, and relationships are all impacted by technology.
Most of Richtel's viewpoints are like many other people that grew up in the same era that
he did, including my parents. It makes sense that because he didn't grow up with it, he doesn't
understand why people are so addicted to these gadgets and why they let them control their
lives. Yet he feels compelled to warn other people about their consequences, and does a great
job of connecting with the audience and persuading us to see what he sees by using solid ex-
amples, situations, and research.

The scientist and research communities are looking at the effects of technology and
Richtel utilizes this in his essay because this research is fact. Scientists are arguing that it has
both positive and negative effects on the brain and in their relationships. College students and
high school students are constantly surrounded by the effects of technology and are not op-
posed to any of the effects because they (we) are already addicted. Richtel uses the son's
grades in the family for example to show that grades suffer because of this. All of the time kids
used to spend studying is now used up on using their phones. Families are making arguments
about technology as a whole. Parents don't like their kid's noses stuck in their phones all the
time. Parents, spouses, brothers, and sisters want quality time with their loved ones. Richtel
uses the lives of the Campbell family to show these effects.

Richtel quotes scientific fact when stating that people need their fix for a dopamine squirt
that technology provides them with. Technology 'cuts on creativity and deep thought.' It causes
heavy multi-taskers to have trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information. They expe-
rience more stress and stress hormones reduce shore term memory. 'Technology is rewiring our
brains;' less than 3% of the population can handle multiple info streams. 'Information overload
causes distraction' and people who multi task have a harder time sorting out irrelevant informa-
tion and focusing on one topic for a long period of time. One important thing Richtel uses is a
scare factor. He points out that technological distractions have deadly consequences, which can
help scare the audience. All of these facts are put to use to show how technology negative im-
pacts the brain, trying to get us to lay back on our use of these gadgets.
Richtel is very aware of disagreements with his argument. He realizes there is a whole
other side to his argument and he points them out and discusses them. Richtel compares the
positive effect of technology of the brain to the negative in two of the sections of his essay. He
uses scientific fact and the real life effects to make it clear that the negative impacts are greater
and outweigh the positive.

The brains of internet users become more efficient in finding information, show greater
brain activity, and continue to grow their neural circulatory sensors Richtel includes. Even video
game players develop better visual acuity. Scientists are trying to turn these positive effects on
the brain into real world benefits like safer driving by creating driving games. This is very smart
of Richtel because it would be dumb to think that there would be no positive scientific impact on
the brain to counter his argument with. Instead of ignoring this, he points it out, therefore show-
ing that he is smart and realizes that there is a playing field for the people who believe technol-
ogy is positive.

Technology exists and so do the problems that come along with it. Richtel describes the
issues that come along with technology and shows us the effects of these issues. He defines
the truth. The opponent might evaluate the story of the family as an extreme case of technology
use and may not take it seriously, but Richtel uses scientific information and other reliable
sources to show that the impacts are real and truthful. Richtel believes people need to be very
aware about their devices and how it is impacting their lives. They need breaks from their de-
vices and try to keep their use at a minimum.

Richtel does an awesome job of organizing his essay as well. He separates it into six
sections to analyze different viewpoints and facts. It gives the reader an idea of where he is go-
ing. For instance the section the toll on children hones in on what effects technology has on
children and how it impacts their lives. All of these sections hone in on something specific that
richtel wants to make a point about. He wants the reader to know that we are paying a price,
what happens when we are always on our devices, we can't actually multitask effectively, we
are always interrupted, it has detrimental effects on children, and we will never get a vacation or
time alone with the people around us if we don't get off our devices.

The campbell family is like the epitome of what you don't want your family to become
and it is a huge success because no one wants their family to be so wrapped up in social media
that they hardly communicate with the people standing right beside them. That scares me. Rich-
tel ends with a nice quote saying 'The way we become more human is by paying attention to
each other' it shows how much you care.' This quote reenforces Richtel's argument that peo-
ple need to communicate the old fashioned way.

Richtel uses Kairos and Stasis theory a multitude of times throughout his essay in at-
tempt to convince us that with technology comes a price and it has such a negative impact. The
topic is timely, the research is timely, and so are the examples he provides with the Campbell
family. Richtel rolls out his plan of action in his six sections and organized it well. Richtel counter
argues with himself and only to point out more so that the positive could not compete with the
negative. The argument is very strategic and did a great job. 


