I've recently read what has become my favorite book; Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkle. It's a big deal for me. I remember when I gave my favorite movie its own post and thought a book was even more deserving. Without further ado, here is the review I posted on goodreads:
Favorite. Book. Ever. Sorry for the drama but it is true. The
author, MIT professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology Sherry
Turkle, raises so many ideas and questions that cut straight to the
heart of human relationships and looks at how we as human beings care
for and more importantly care about each other. She addresses
some questions I have been puzzling over for the last several years such
as, “Why does it feel like it’s harder to make real and meaningful
connections with other people -- especially when we are “more connected
than ever” through modern technology?”
I became completely
absorbed while reading this and everything felt so relevant and “of the
moment.” I didn’t agree with absolutely everything, but really, I felt
Turkle refrained from stating too many solid opinions and instead framed
things in the form of questions or musings; “I wonder if technology is
taking us in a direction we really want to go? Do we really want to
settle for watered down relationships in deference to what technology
has to offer?”
I could go on and on but I’d better not. Suffice it to say I loved
this book and found it utterly fascinating. And as an added bonus,
it’s given me a new running joke to use with my husband since I refer to
it so much. E.g. when we were out to dinner for our anniversary I gave
him my cell phone to look up some information we needed since he’s
better with such things. While he was looking down, working with my
phone I got to ask him from across the table, “so, does this mean we’re
Alone Together?” Fun stuff!
Just a few quotes for my own reference;
Part One The Robotic Moment: In Solitude, New Intimacies, p.123
““...assuming
that it has already been decided, irrevocably, that we have few
resources to offer the elderly. With this framing, the robots are
inevitable. We declare ourselves overwhelmed and lose a creative
relationship to ourselves and to our future. We learn a deference to
what technology offers because we see ourselves as depleted. We give up
on ourselves.”
Part Two Networked: In Intimacy, New Solitudes, p. 203
“We
fill our days with ongoing connection, denying ourselves time to think
and dream. Busy to the point of depletion, we make a new Faustian
bargain. It goes something like this: if we are left alone when we make
contact, we can handle being together.”
p. 267
"Children have
always competed for their parents' attention, but this generation has
experienced something new. Previously, children had to deal with
parents being off with work, friends, or each other. Today, children
contend with parents who are physically close, tantalizingly so, but
mentally elsewhere."
