One excerpt that resonates with me from The Empathy Diaries is located on the third paragraph of page 349, when she mentions that “…We like to hear (these) positive stories because  they do not discourage us in our pursuit of the new… and we like to hear them because if these are the only stories that matter, then we don’t have to attend to the other feelings that persist—that we are more lonely than before…” (Turkle 349). Later in the paragraph, Turkle delves in further, claiming how it is “nearly impossible to have a conversation at a family dinner” because of this. From this passage, Turkle considers the fact that the modern era deflects feelings of negativity or distracts themselves from having to experience the reality of some situations. This is something that I see myself strongly agreeing with, as it is something that I have regrettably picked up doing over the years. When a specific problem arises, or when there is something that may require additional attention or work, I tend to procrastinate doing so—even if it is only for a few moments. It’s much easier to absolve into oneself than to socialize in every active moment. At least for myself, anyway, that’s how things tend to work.

Additionally, on the second paragraph of page 347, Turkle also brings up the point of “…Conversations with a good teacher communicate that learning isn’t all about the answers. It’s about what the answers mean. Conversations help students build narratives… Without these narratives, you can learn a new fact but not know what to do with it, how to make sense of it.” (Turkle 347).  This is also a very good point to mention. Since the internet offers a plethora of information, it is very easy to become lost in this. Whether it’s on social media or on a scholarly article, this knowledge is quite accessible to the public. To advance this fact further, rather than delve into critical thinking abilities or offer in-depth class discussion, teachers oftentimes only provide surface-level introduction to the material without any major takeaway. As someone who has experienced this firsthand from high school, I could confidently state that I was oftentimes bored in class or underwhelmed. Things were often defined as just or replicated the class text—with no rigor or intellectual challenge. Most of the critical thinking skills I have discovered in my lifetime were either from lessons in my personal life, or from collegiate discussions.