A seemingly harmless method of communication—text messaging—is bringing unusually unpleasant side effects with it, according to the article “As Text Messages Fly, Danger Lurks” in the New York Times. The article offers a number of arguments against texting, ranging from the dangers that it poses to those who text and drive at the same time to the assertion by Paul Saffo, a technology trend forecaster in Silicon Valley, that texting removes 10 I.Q. points. The article’s in-depth research on a growing issue that is not frequently addressed make it definitely worth your time to read. A recent event that the article points to as evidence of texting’s dangers is a deadly commuter rail accident in California in which texting by the train engineer is being examined as a possible cause of the crash. This particular crash killed 25 people and injured 130 others, and many other incidents involving texting have also led to deaths.
Despite the dire consequences of texting, the form of communication is growing very rapidly, and is popular with many people. In the article, people who frequently use text messages attest to the directness and convenience of texting as two of its positive aspects. When texting someone, formalities of typical phone conversations are forgone, and getting an immediate answer can be easier than with traditional phone calls. Perhaps these reasons contribute to the fact that, according to a consumer research company called Nielson Mobile, Americans now send or receive more text messages than they do phone calls. At any rate, the dangers associated with texting do not seem to be hindering the growth of its use.
In my opinion, texting is acceptable in moderation, if not in excess. I agree that texting can be a convenient way to communicate with someone, and that it works better in some situations than calling. I’m also confident that in moderation, texting won’t significantly affect my I.Q. level. However, I would never consider texting while driving or even walking down a busy street, due to the distraction and danger that it creates. I think that many people do not realize how distracted they are when they are texting someone. It is easy to forget that being in an area with cars or other moving vehicles requires a certain level of alertness, and texting can destroy that alertness faster than many people know. Maybe if people were aware that they are placing the lives of themselves and those around them in danger when they text and drive, they would prioritize their focus on the road around them above their focus on the anecdote that they are texting.
One question that I had as I read this article was what the difference in the level of distraction between texting and talking on a cell phone while driving is. I would hypothesize that texting while driving has a more damaging effect on one’s driving, because most people have to take their eyes off the road for a longer amount of time to write a text message than they do to dial a number. However, the amount of media attention devoted to talking on a cell phone while driving seems just as great if not greater than the attention towards texting while driving. As the popularity of texting continues to increase, I’m sure that the media attention surrounding it will follow suit.
Aside from the dangers of texting, I think the form of communication has other problems. Texting seems to take priority above interacting with people actually around you too many times. I am always shocked when I see people hanging out together, yet focused on their cell phone buttons and texting those not around them, instead of talking with each other. I can understand that occasionally it is necessary to text someone and risk ignoring the people around you. But just as people wouldn’t make social calls while hanging out with friends, I think it is rather rude to consistently text others instead of talking to the people around you.
Work Cited:
Steinhauer, Jennifer and Laura M. Holson. “As Text Messages Fly, Danger Lurks.” New York Times 19 September 2008: A1.
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6 comments:
I agree completely with your comments on texting while driving. I don't drive but I don't even want to imagine how bad my driving would be if I tried to text. I'm not so sure about the Silicon Valley study. It just doesn't really make sense to me as to how texting would go so far as to reduce IQ points, but it sounds worthwhile to look into.
I agree with you that texting while driving is dangerous. I, a frequent texter, would not feel safe texting while driving. texting while walking is even hard to do. i was texting while following my mom into the grocery store and she had to stop me from walking in front of a car. if i hadn't been texting, i wouldn't have done that! but i disagree with you when you say that its rude texting when other people are around. I mean, if it was excessive, then yeah it would be rude. but the occasional txt every once in a while is fine.
It's completely true that texting while doing anything else on the road is crazy and extremely unsafe. Sometimes you wonder how some people could be so stupid as to focus on something below the steering wheel instead of above it on the streets ahead of them.
I also don't see how texting might lower your I.Q. I don't think it would make you any less smarter, except when your driving, as I said above. But it could possibly create some bad habits and increase your use of slang words or abbreviations in your writing.
I definitely agree with one of your last points -- when people text other friends when they're in a group of friends just seems rude to me. It's like being both social and anti-social at the same time.
I also agree that the distractions of texting are highly dangerous. The commuter train crash is a very good, but sobering example. Your question about talking on a phone while driving versus texting while driving interests me, too. You'd think that texting requires more attention because you have to look at a screen and use your hands, but talking takes up more of your attention than you'd think.
As someone who has sent and recieved 12,600 txts in a 31 day period and can legally drive I don't believe that txting is the problem, I believe that it is the people doing the txting that it is the problem. Another problem is how fast past our world is these days. We must always been in communication or we will get behind. That said, I would never txt or even answer my phone while driving. It scares me enough to do it the halls of school, I can't imagine doing it while driving.
As for the lowering of your I.Q., that seems a little unrealistic to me. As far as I know my I.Q. hasn't gone since I got txting on my phone. I don't know, maybe it has. In the end it's not the txting that causes the problem it's how and when people use txting that gets others in trouble.
I totally agree with this article. I also think it is very dangerous to drive while texting. This can cause major problems while on the road. On the other hand calling while driving I think is just as bad. I also think that obsessive texting can be very rude while being with other people. I would also never text while driving because it is a threat to myself and many other drivers in the area. I am very surprised by the fact that texting removes 10 I.Q. points! I didn't think it impacted your I.Q. This fact is just another reason NOT to text. My biggest pet peeve is when you are talking to someone and they are in another world texting someone else. Many crashes result from texting. Many people don't realize that it's harder than they think to multi-task.
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