"Curiouser and Curiouser" by Scruton

        Roger Scruton’s nonfictional essay “Curiouser and Curiouser” (Nov 2011) defines the roles technological gadgets and social media have taken on in our lives. Using logical arguments and realistic examples, he supports his claims that such things have become our masters.  Scruton clearly wants his audience to think and reconsider the way devices are used in everyday applications in order to lessen dependency on them. Because the average person uses technology and Internet, his audience is broad and general. 

Scruton’s views on our technological phase almost completely mirror mine. Those who exist through a screen in the name of communicating have become slaves to their devices. Most of the time, those afflicted most deeply with Insta-everything don’t even see how it’s an issue. While it’s true, that there is convience in the portability of tablets and smartphones, it’s simply unhealthy to be so dependent on a piece of hardware no more than a few inches wide. It’s changed how we think, and the author outlines this idea in his essay.  The vapid have long existed, but their numbers grow when we can put whatever we want out into the world with the tap or swipe of a finger. 

Scruton makes many observations, and sometimes turns these into generalizations. In the phrase “. . .and young people are now governed by the gadgets in their hands” (Scruton 228) Scruton assumes that young people alone are the utilizers of new devices. Again he makes this idea clear when he comments that “Intimacy and privacy are dreams of the oldies. . .” (Scruton 228). However, throughout the piece he does a good job of keeping the generalizations to a minimum and keeping the extreme, extreme. 

    Scruton, Roger. "Curiouser and Curiouser." Connections. Ed. Mary R. Lamb. N.p.: n.p., 2013. N. pag. Print.