Max Fern – Sherry Turkle: “Connected, but alone” (10/19)

In “Connected, but alone?”, Dr. Turkle, a renowned psychologist, argues that technology allows us to connect more easily with one another, but that it takes away from the authentic conversation that leads to meaningful relationships.

In her 2012 talk, Dr. Turkle takes us through her personal journey with technology and how she sees it impacting her behavior, the behavior of others, and the way that people interact. “We’re designing technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship,” she says.

Although this is from ten years ago, I believe that Dr. Turkle’s perspective is still a valuable one. She emphasizes that communication technology is less dangerous for individuals that are already socialized, but that it has the potential to profoundly impact the sense of self and ability of young people to develop meaningful bonds.

Unfortunately, over the last ten years, it appears we’ve moved further and further in that direction. “If we don’t have connection, we don’t feel like ourselves. So, what do we do? We connect, more and more, but in the process we are [actually] setting ourselves up to be [completely] isolated.”

One thought on “Max Fern – Sherry Turkle: “Connected, but alone” (10/19)

  1. I watched this as well and I agree with your points. I found Dr. Turkle’s presentation very interesting as she discussed that the more we connect the more we are actually alone. Especially in the time of the pandemic, people felt the need to connect online for socializing, but this is turn, actually made people feel more isolated. For some reason, when I watched this I did not even realize it was almost 10 years ago already, I am sure these ideas have progressed more and more in the last decade.

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