Here's What I Think About Technology: A Blog by Avi Ezor

This week, packages containing explosive devices were found outside the homes of philanthropist George Soros , the Clintons, and the Obamas, and others critical of Donald Trump, as well as outside the New York headquarters of CNN. Many considered these incidents evidence of the threat of right-wing hate speech, sentiments emboldened and often shared by President Trump, being turned into actions.  Others said that the left brought this on themselves for hostile rhetoric towards right-wingers and not supporting the President. Some even said that the bombs were a “false flag”, placed by the victims themselves to attract sympathy right before the midterms. This was all in the comments section of one YouTube video posted by CNN of the news of the bombing attempt on their office. Political discourse has become so deeply fragmented that it’s easy to become jaded, uncaring, and silent towards major issues. What’s the point of making your voice heard if it won’t matter in such a chaotic en...

Every time I get to class, almost everybody has their faces in phones. Some are studying, some have their faces in books, some have laptops, some have nothing, but most have phones. The phones are supplemented with earbuds to block out potential noise, letting the internal speakers fill the user’s environment with whatever they’re listening to. I’ve always thought that college was a great place to make friends and reinvent yourself, a belief enforced through countless movies and television shows, but in our current era it feels like everyone has closed themselves off. Who needs real-life, in-the-moment conversation when you have a whole planet of people to talk to through social media? I’ve always had a problem talking to people. Actually, I don’t have a problem talking to people. I talk to people on a regular basis. The hard part is actually letting them talk. Over the years, I’ve made progress in reducing the anxiety that occurs whenever I attempt conversations, only for technol...