The Use Of Technology: Alone Together, By Sherry Turkle

The Documented Life is an article wrote by Sherry Turkle on December 15, 2013 and published in The New York Times. In the article, she talks about how modern technology has caused us to put our lives on hold. Turkle states that people do not feel like themselves if they are not sharing their thoughts and views. The article states that technology has changed us by putting our interpersonal communications on pause. Turkle says we no longer see interruptions as a kind of disruption anymore. She adds that the most frequently heard phrase is, “wait, what?” as people fall back into missed conversions has become the new norm. Turkle also states that when people are alone or bored, they reach for a device. It has become so natural that they forget there is a time and place not to use their gadgets. Turkle suggests that there might be hope for the younger generation as they witness the price being paid by preoccupied, device carrying adults. Youngsters have come to value the device-free zones set up by parents for family conversion time.

In his 2011 The Chronicle Review article “Programmed for Love” Jeffrey R. Young interviews Professor Sherry Turkle about her experience with what she calls “sociable robots”. Turkle has spent 15 years studying robotics and its social emergence into society. After extensive research and experimenting with the robots, she believes that soon they will be programmed to perform specific tasks that a human would normally do. While this may seem like a positive step forward to some people, Turkle fears the worst. The article states that she finds this concept “demeaning, ‘transgressive,’ and damaging to our collective sense of humanity.” (Young, par. 5). She accredits this to her personal and professional experience with the robots. Turkle and her

All advantages have corresponding disadvantages. Sherry Turkle’s essay “Connectivity and its Discontents” address her stance towards technological communication. Throughout her essay, she provides examples that illustrate how the world is consistently depending on technology for communication. Turkle’s opinion towards the issue is that, “she believes we’ll eventually sacrifice communication for mere connection.” Her examples make the reader consider that technological communication leads to human beings losing intensity in communication in both personal and professional situations because of distraction and convenience. The twenty-first century widely introduced a variety technological advancements which made people rely often on the technology. Thinking back to her opinion towards the issue I would agree with the idea that humans are becoming too attached to technology, but I would disagree that technology draws a wedge between people.

Us as humans, have started to rely on our machines for a great deal (internet, comfort, relationships, solitude, etc.); we used to think that spending quality time together meant actually acknowledging each other, but thanks to robots, we now spend quality time in the same room, but on our devices. Turkle provides a great example of this when she states, “we romance the robot and become inseparable from our smart phones. As this happens, we remake ourselves and our relationships with each other through our new intimacy with our machines” (Turkle 86). She also discusses how obsessed we have become with our devices. The average person frequently checks their phone multiple times throughout the day. This has become quite a habit, because it has been molded into our minds. In the third paragraph of the article, Turkle provides clear evidence that humans rely too much on robots. The author adds sarcastic tones and phrases when she states, “our population is aging; there will be robots to take care of us. Our children are neglected; robots will tend to them” (Turkle 87). If people become preoccupied in their virtual world, they will start to begin to lose their humanity. Normal day activities will become a thing in the past because now, we can do it all on our

At work, people are claiming to be too busy on their devices to be able to have conversations. In fact, they do not want to have the face to face interaction, but would “rather just do things on [their] blackberry” (136). Moreover, a “sixteen-year-old boy who relies on texting for almost everything says wistfully, ‘Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I’d like to learn how to have a conversation’” (136). The reliance on technology has increased significantly and the necessity for conversation has pivoted. A teenage boy confesses that he feels more comfortable talking to an “artificial intelligence program” (138) about dating instead of his own father. Similarly, many people want “Siri, the digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone, [to become] more advanced, [because] ‘she’ will be more and more like a best friend” (138). Robots are being given more credit for comforting humans than humans themselves. Not only are the younger generations thinking this, but also the elders. When Turkle brought a baby seal robot to a nursing home, an elder woman began to speak to it and feel comforted by it. It is a tragedy that humans are feeling a deeper connection with robots than other humans. Humans have the experiences and the feelings that the robots are not capable of having. Hence, there is confusion about the difference between conversation and

In “Alone Together: The Robotic Movement,” Sherry Turkle explains some of the negative effects that robots are having on our lives. She also explains how they can have a negative effect on our daily lives without us even noticing. I am someone who knows a great deal about technology, however I had no idea that close human-robot interaction was happening at such an inappropriate level. There are many different examples Turkle uses in the article, however, I will only talk about two. I agree with Turkle not only that there are ethical problems with human-robot interaction but also that a lot of other forms of technology might be doing more harm than good.

“No Need to Call” by Sherry Turkle is an article written about the relationship people have with technology, and specifically with communicating via technology. How it has affected the way we want to interact with people, or how we end up interacting with people. This being due to social norms having changed when it comes to our way of interacting, such as the meaning behind making phone calls rather than texting. The article itself brings up many viewpoints as well as different opinions on the subject, plus a few pros and cons to show that certain things are not always to be seen as black and white. Technology has its advantages, but even the most tech savvy, devoted people have to admit that it has its disadvantages, brought up in this article. Examples are brought up with each point to

The relationship between people has been changed because of the widely using of new technology. People can easily communicate with other people by using different kinds of methods. Because of the use of those methods, people have more space with others and frequently hide part of themselves on the Internet in order to show the best of them. In the essay “Small Change: Why he Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell states that the relationship between people can be categorized by strong ties and weak ties. For example, in the past, people communicated by the method of interpersonal hierarchies, which are considered as strong ties. However, with the development of technology, social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, which have become very popular in the world, are regarded as weak ties. Moreover, in the essay “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle claims that people are distant with others and get lost in the virtual world through the new technology. She points out that now people communicate with others through technology instead of directing talking to real people. Furthermore, some people suppose that sociable robots as substitutes for people. Both Gladwell and Turkle agree with the idea that technology plays an important role on people’s connection. Technology only creates inauthentic relationship because it hides identity of many disorganized people.

Turkle speaks about her occupation at MIT where analysts experiment with robots by propelling its capacity to be instructors, home associates and closest companions which focuses on specific age groups but particularly to the elderly (2015). According to statistics there is no position available in this field to take care of the old due to the population of less younger people. Therefore, researchers at MIT trusts the making of ‘caring machines’. For this reason, Turkle indicates roboticists are not by any means the only individuals with this thought, there has been chatter from others that is not in the robotic world (2015). Therefore, humans trust the idea of having robots taking care of the elderly rather than people. The reasons is that humans are thought to be cruel where the overseer can steal or be abusive (Turkle 2015). Strangely enough, this shows grown ups have turned out to be so contributed with technology, believing a robot can talk and care a for a person. Additionally, it demonstrates a discrimination against mankind, due to not trusting the ability of a human being. Furthermore, this creates the lack of living life and facing reality. As a result, artificial intelligence has driven into the adults’ minds where they trust that contact with robots is great yet it is definitely

In a world where the functions of cellphones, robotics, and such technology are rising, humans are becoming more and more dependent on them on a day to day basis. People are seen using a cell phone all the time and pretty much all jobs use some sort of technology in order to aid the workers. Essay authors published in the book “They Say/I Say” all have different opinions on whether or not all this rise of technology is a beneficial thing for humans or not. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr believes that the internet is altering the way that his mind works when he is reading and Sherry Turkle’s article “No Need to Call” depicts several instances of people’s lives and how they are affected by their phones and computers.

Sherry Turkle’s essay “How Computers Change the Way We Think” discuss how the growing popularity of technology is disconnecting us from our brain, loved ones and may be invading our private life. Electronics might not have been as helpful as we previously thought.

Technology has a huge impact on our lives. Now more than ever, we have unlimited knowledge and data at our fingertips and numerous and longer connections with people globally. With social technology, our society has adapted to a new age and is basing itself around an endlessly advancing and fast-paced scientific world. Technology has a huge impact on our social interactions and day-to-day routine, creating a culture of physical discommunication and digital conversation.

The “connectivity” of the world today seems like it is straying further and further from what was once thought as “connectivity.” In Sherry Turkle’s essay Alone together, she discusses how technology is becoming more and more powerful and tries to dispute the fact that if humans are still linked with each other on the same level we once were. Turkle discusses this point rather well when she states, “our networked life allows us to hide from each other,” (263). Also, Turkle discusses in her essay how robots are becoming more and more integrated in the world we live in; and, these robots are essentially taking the place of humans in some situations making us less connected with each other. While in “In the Forest of Gombe,” the author Jane

He asserts that the connection problem is a result of having distant relationships, not the cause of it. Turkle does not agree. Instead, her position is that shared distant connections make it difficult to create authenticity in relationships. She further believes that technology is one of the biggest threats sustaining shared connections with others. She defines the shared connection as “a love relationship that involves coming to savor the surprise and the rough patches, of looking at the world from another’s point of view, shaped by history, biology, trauma, and joy. Computers and robots do not have these experiences to share” (268). No matter how smart or swift technology can be, it will never fulfill the need to maintain relationships with others. Hence, having relationships with technology, such as computers or robots, is incongruent with the physical and emotional experiences felt by human beings. On a basic level, technology can be a good choice because it can help people who are not good at having relationships with others. Technology can encourage and teach others to communicate, but this may not be as beneficial as one would hope. No matter how well people can communicate with technology, they may still have trouble with relating to others. The only way to

What will we be like if we continue to develop intimate relationships with our devices? Will we be more connected than ever, or more alienated? In “Can You Hear Me Now?”, by Sherry Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology, argues that technology has made people more connected, but has also made us more alienated from each other. How now, when in public people mostly want to be alone with their personal networks, or devices. People used to talk to one other as they waited in line, or rode on the bus or subway. Now we spend that downtime checking emails, responding to messages, or scrolling through our social media feed. Turkle says, “People become alienated from their own experience and anxious about watching a version of their lives scrolling along faster than they can handle” (p. 508). Our devices are increasingly becoming a part of us, an extension of our mind. Turkle does an amazing job at showing her case by stating evidence that is very relatable, along with real life examples, and feelings that her audience has felt while dealing with their devices.