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Marissa Mondin
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
02/16/16
Topic Proposal: How has technology affected the make up of the millennials?
Introduction/Overview
I will be exploring how the increase of technological advances has affected the
millennials psychological make-up. There are opposing views on technology already, but I am
looking deeper into the facts, in how it truly affects the minds of these individuals. Many people
think, the more technology the better, whereas others believe it has, taken over the world.
Neither opinion is wrong or unjust it just leaves opportunity for bias which gets tricky. My plan
is to research how certain technologies such as TV, computers, cellphones, and videogames have
affected certain things such as the brain, social skills, and relationships.
In beginning my research of this topic, I chose to research how these technologies have
negatively affected the generation first and was surprised how popular the topic is in todays talk.
Weve come to lose track of just how much these technologies take up so much of our time so
easily. The newest research from Kaiser Family Foundation in late 2009, showed that the average
American spends about 10 hours and 45 minutes a day plugged in, using a cellphone, playing
videogames, watching TV, or using their computer! The downside to this is the neurological
functions of these peoples brains look as though there is less firing between neurotransmitters
in the pre-frontal cortex, which is the boss-man of the brain. It is the part of the brain responsible
for the kinds of things that make us adaptable in the world.
Similarly, in the pre-frontal cortex is where we develop empathy and emotion. As we tune

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more into screens and less to people, not only are we getting less face-to-face social time, but
were also wiring the brain to be less adaptable. If we vaccinate ourselves to extreme images on
screen, it also drains the brains tendency to seek out real-life situations. Thats border-line the
definition of Schizophrenia: withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy.
These findings bring up suspicious questions such as: If Im only connected 8 hours a
day am I still affected to the same extent? Can I become Schizophrenic if Im on my phone too
much? These are all questions coming to my mind as well, and I plan to find the answers.
I have talked to a lot of people about my topic, asking questions and asking opinions on
making my topic more specific. I have read some articles and papers online on various websites,
but am still searching through reliable resources. I have found much information, though am
weary about some sites and dont want to pose false information about the positive affects I have
found. Most of the affects I have found are opinion-based which I am trying to stray from.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

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Are advanced hand-held technologies affecting humans ability to maintain healthy

relationships?

What are the long-term effects of living in a technological world? Are these mostly
negative or positive?
To what extent is the development of new technologies having a negative effect?

My Interest in this Topic

Im interested in learning about how advancements in text messaging have had affects on
having healthy relationships. I am interested in this because I am growing up in an age where
everything is so technological and to me it has gotten out of hand. I have had relationships fail
from text messaging, friendships lost from social media, and anxiety increase from the thought
that we are reliant on these things. I have my own personal experiences with some points of this

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topic, and I know how it has affected me, but I would like to get a more holistic approach on the
topic in general and how it affects more than just my emotions and actions. I know some
negative affects of technology overuse from my family members as well as me sometimes. I
know how it has lead to miscommunication within my relationships and family. I also know I am
one person, and not enough to state a point of whether this is a global issue of the whole
millennials or its more positively affected us. I hope to learn more about the statistical facts of
these topic globally to generate a better average and to be able to be fair. I hope to learn more
about how these issues affect the actual human mind and body as a whole and how that whole is
changing our generation.

Next Steps
I plan to find search for articles, magazine entries, psychological research studies, and
medical papers in the hope of finding ways f supporting my positive and negative sides
FACTUALLY with as much detail as possible. I also plan to use our library on campus because I
have searched for books and articles on the subject and have found a wide variety of papers to
which could be helpful! Im not sure if this is a reliable source, but I also plan to interview
people or rather as them a few questions and create a consensus of my own town on their ideas
of certain views. Hopefully with my factual research and intimate research of my peers, I can
create an informative and true paper.