Tales of Caution: Sherry Turkle
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Underlying Turkle's central argument is the fact that the technological developments which have most contributed to the rise of inter-connectivity have at the same time bolstered a sense of alienation between people. The alienation involves links between social networks favouring those of proper conversations.
Turkle's main argument in the first part of the book is that our interactions with robots that simulate emotion pose serious threats to our ability to relate to one another properly. Turkle discusses robots that have been designed to interact with humans on an emotional level; she fears that they may then replace other humans and animals in these emotional roles. Turkle is concerned that we often attribute certain qualities to robots that the robots do not in fact possess, and that our emotional interactions with other humans become eroded as a direct result. Turkle's concern is that our appreciation for human interaction may become eroded.
The second part of the book examines the nature of online social interactions, and the way in which social media has changed how people, particularly younger people, connect with one another. Turkle argues that because people in interpersonal social situations, particularly young people, are often distracted by their phones, they will pay insufficient attention to one another, creating increasingly shallow relationships. Turkle argues that teenagers' reliance on friends' advice prevents self-reflection, leading to less personal independence.
Turkle talks about the nature of privacy in the post 9/11 world, arguing that privacy was sacrificed in exchange for safety. Turkle argues that because they have grown up as part of a world in which privacy is regarded as increasingly tenuous, children do not always appreciate the full value of privacy, which in turn causes them to share even more personal details on the web. This further depreciates the value of privacy in a self-perpetuating cycle.
Reclaiming Conversation is Turkle's examination of evolving interpersonal and intrapersonal communications, and The Power of Talk in A Digital Age. As a precursor to her novel, Turkle cites Henry David Thoreau's Walden in her organization of the book: "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."[12] This book is thus divided into three general parts: a single chair for intrapersonal communication, two chairs concerning the importance of conversations in friendships, families and romances, and three chairs for interpersonal communication such as in school, work, and politics.[13] Turkle gathered data from schools, companies, families, and articulates the statistical and psychoanalytic barriers that have forced users to "sacrifice conversation for mere connection".[14] This trade-off in interwoven intimacies and apps ultimately withholds the necessary "face-to-face experiences that are needed for generating authentic connection".[15]
The capacity to interact on a personal or private basis is the cornerstone to empathy, and Turkle argues that loneliness is also essential to this.[16] Paradoxically, Turkle presents the blossoming of technologies role in our reconciliation of lonely experiences and maintaining close social interactions.[15] While access to mobile devices can empower connections with pre-existing relationships, it can also harm the general sense of solitude and ability to meet personal and social standards on a grander scale. The ability to connect through technology then becomes the compromise that chatting online is "better than nothing".[15]
Turkle gave a talk for Google about her book Reclaiming Conversation.[17]
Aziz Ansari responded to Reclaiming Conversation by saying, "In a time in which the ways we communicate and connect are constantly changing, and not always for the better, Sherry Turkle provides a much needed voice of caution and reason to help explain what the f* is going on."[18]