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Our online lives are such fragile things. And it might be a slippery slope when we give up so much of ourselves to them. | Our online lives are such fragile things. And it might be a slippery slope when we give up so much of ourselves to them. | ||
| − | We spend a great portion of our days facing a screen, as opposed to other people. Even though we seem to be very satisfied by this, if we’re shortchanging others in real life because of it, we’re spending even less time with the one person who truly matters most — ourselves. | + | Psychologist Sherry Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, gave an intriguing TEDTalks presentation about the social effects of technology. We spend a great portion of our days facing a screen, as opposed to other people. Even though we seem to be very satisfied by this, if we’re shortchanging others in real life because of it, we’re spending even less time with the one person who truly matters most — ourselves. |
This is why she makes the case for solitude. The way we digitally connect to people — whether friends or “friends” — gives us the “the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship,” says Turkle, who published “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other” last year. We keep seeking these things out to stave off isolation. But, she says, if we can’t let ourselves be alone, we’ll only wind up more lonely. | This is why she makes the case for solitude. The way we digitally connect to people — whether friends or “friends” — gives us the “the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship,” says Turkle, who published “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other” last year. We keep seeking these things out to stave off isolation. But, she says, if we can’t let ourselves be alone, we’ll only wind up more lonely. | ||
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