Turkle

According to the book They Say I Say Sherry Turkle “looks askance at today’s media-saturated culture, because of the way cell phones, computers, and other portable technologies undermine public spaces and community. (212) Sherry Turkle had a piece published in Forbes magazine in 2007, in the article she points out “five troubles that try her tethered soul” as related to the use of technology today.

“ There is a New State of the Self Itself” Where she talks about the virtual self and how you can be just about anyone you want to be while online. There is a virtual world called Second Life where people who are normally socially awkward can be a social queen since they are interacting through a computer and not in real life. As Turkle says, “it is easier to express intimacy in the virtual world than the real world." She also adds that "online life provides an environment where one can be a loner, yet not alone.” Turkle is worried that soon people will stop even wanting to go outside and be social since they have a computer instead. We don’t want our kids learning social skills from a computer.

Are We Losing the Time to Take our Time? Where she talks about people growing up and multitasking and having rapid responses. With the new technological age and people are always on the move doing something with the technology and “are we leaving enough time to take our time on things that matter?” Recently people make their world revolve around their blackberries, rather than what’s important like family.

The Tethered Adolescent. Talks about how children are losing a sort of right of passage by having cell phone and having there parents on speed dial so they don’t have to experience some of the things that we did as children. This section also talks about how cell phones take away from the ability to be alone and children now a day don’t get to feel that. Children need to be able to feel independence, and how are they supposed to do that when they are have mom and dad one click away. Turkle believes that children end up being more dependent on their cell phones than their own self.

Virtuality and Its Discontents. Speaks about how if we are always being watched can lead to political abuse.

Split Attention speaks about “doing e-mail” while doing other tasks such as during classes, meetings, while talking to our children, walking down the street, driving cars, or when having dinner with our family. “Once done surreptitiously, the habit of “Self-splitting in different world becomes normalized.” Which means that we can be in the physical world while also being in the virtual world?
I believe that Turkle would agree with Amy Goldwasser, they both have similar views about technology today. They believe that kids are too into electronics and are not focused on the important things in life. Turkle would love how Goldwasser says,” Kids today don’t read, don’t write, and don’t care about anything farther in front of them than their iPods.” I also believe that Turkle would agree with Dana Stevens when she suggests that the nation take a week off of TV.