Alone together
Contents
TOC o 1-3 h z u Question and answers PAGEREF _Toc3568877 h 2References PAGEREF _Toc3568878 h 5
Question and answersThe purpose of Sherry Turkle was to make people understand the fact that we have started expecting much from technology instead of expecting things from one other. With the help of the book alone together, she wanted to raise concern over the technical ill-effects of the new technologies. She further stated in her book how technology has become an architect of intimacies. The core objective of the book is to explain how technology is affecting communication and relationships of the people. This is a very interesting subject for anthropologist because it states about the powerful influence of technology on humans. Since the work of the anthropologist is to study different aspects of human beings, therefore, they show a keen interest in gaining knowledge about this domain.
The first half of the book describes social robotics. The purpose of the author to include sci-fi androids is that people have started looking at robotic devices as their solution. It has become an easy substitute for dealing with human problems. The main reason of problem generation is human imperfection. Social robots have become human companions as they promise to sweep the floor, provide reliable care to ageing parents and so on (Turkle 2011, 26). Author perspective to use online life in the book is that technology has made a life of the people busier than ever before. People have now started seeing their life as an online one.
The concept of alive enough is used in the book to explain that technology has widened so much that people do not matter things to be live or robotic. She explained it by stating an example of her daughter. She described that one day when she took her daughter to the zoo. Seeing turtle in the zoo her daughter stated that turtle could only be a robot. It does not matter to her daughter that whether a turtle is alive or a robot because according to her perception sleeping task can even be done by a robot. She discussed the example of students (Turkle 2011, 26). She illustrated and put attention on the phenomenon that students are able to recognize the vibration of their cell phones when it is very far away from them.
She was shocked to know that people have started treating electronic devices as their pets. After little research, she found that kids have started emphasizing with the feeling of the plastic device. She further revealed that kids are more concerned about their electronic pets than human beings. During her study, she became disturbed to discern that even an 82-year-old lady treat a robotic doll as her real baby. It was identified that a childs reaction and that of the adult were the same. Both of them care about their electronic devices as they were real (Turkle 2011, 53-66). She learned that technology has hovered thoughts and feelings of every individual and nobody is concerned about it. Moreover, she even realised that people are not ready to accept the real facts. It made her feel restless.
It can be identified from the book that people due to communication feature of robots are getting more attached towards them. Rich not only talk to kismet but also discusses his personal life with the robot. He treats him as if he was real. It was further identified that children considered Cog and kismet alive. It depicted that relationship with robot and human were intensifying. People were living more in fantasy than in the real world. Robots face, gaze and voice all help a person to realise the fact that they are meeting minds (Turkle 2011, 83-102). It further illustrates that relationship between human and technology is affecting the interpersonal relationship between humans. Both examples tie the overall thesis of the relationship between technology and humans.
The theme Labor lost was used in the book to illustrate the fact that robotic devices have snatched work of nurses in care centres. People are now relying more on robots for providing aid to their grandparents. They did not understand that robotic devices are the main rivals of affection. Some of the benefits of introducing robot in nursing homes were to reduce the ageing concerns of the people. Japanese devised caring machines in such a way that they can give baths and dispense medicine to the old aged people(Turkle 2011, 103-126). The deficit of having this technology was that it created a gap in the relationship with the people. The gap was widening day by day due to its excessive usage. Thus, it can be stated that robotic technology in nursing was both a boon and bane.
The situation represented in the book is disturbing and uncomfortable because the meaning of the relationship has changed. People now rely on technologies they share their emotions with them. They depend on robotic devices for most of their work. This is a disturbing and uncomfortable scene because ultimately they are interacting with machines that are emotionless (Turkle 2011, 127-150). They cannot ever be able to replace a human being in spite of learning everything from them because they do not have brains. They can react to the human codes till the time they are able to retrieve answers from the database and through programs. Once it is done, they are nothing more than just a useless device. Thus, it can be depicted from the above situations that robotic devices have created a gap in human relationships. It seems impossible to feel the void produced by them.
No doubt, technology has entirely changed the mindset of people. They have developed a new way to look over things. The author tries to metaphor technological devices by defining that evolution in technology has resulted in introducing a new state of life that splits itself among screen and physical real world (Turkle 2011, 151-171). The author is concerned about the excessive and continuous use of technology. She states that if people continue to use technology then they will reach a point where in spite of having robotic devices they will all alone that is in the state of solitude. She further states that young people are growing up in the expectation of being connected with technology throughout the day. They are always connected with social networking sites.
It has been observed that the younger generation is growing up tethered. It had created a negative impact on their life. They cannot resist without looking who has ranged them up. They want to remain socially connected throughout the day. It had made them lost their social maturity. They have become reckless to text the person back, check notification even while driving and so on. They do not have any time for self-reflection (Turkle 2011, 171-186). They are unable to develop cognitive processes which are essential for overall personal development. Personal anxiety has increased, behaviours of human have become disruptive, and it is very difficult for them to remain connected as well as live a proper life outside social media platforms without putting life on risk.
Joel has studied computer science and runs a software design time. He accepts the challenges of the programming world. He looks technology has his career. He works to develop programs whereas Adam has a different perception. He feels jobless without technology. He spends most of his time playing with technology. Sometimes he feels depressed because earlier he used to play Quake along with his friends but now he has to play it all alone (Turkle 2011, 219-224). On the other hand, Joel was satisfied with the technology (Turkle 2011, 213-219). He used to make use of the technology to create sculptures and buildings so as to complete the dream but there was a different case with Adam. He could not enjoy his life without technology.
From three of the stories, I could identify that the author wanted to showcase the anxiety of the people to keep in touch. Many times it happens that due to some of the other reason people cannot be connected always and this makes them remorseful. Themes of all three stories are different. Julia has separated from her father and she had the anxiety to be in touch with him (Turkle 2011, 175-179). She wanted to remain connected with everyone. In the case of Hanna, she is obsessed with the use of the internet. She met a guy online named Ian they started chatting and continued for days. Hanna states that Ian knows him better than anyone else (Turkle 2011, 248-251). She had made a social networking site as her habit. She did not feel good when she is not connected to that platform. Brad said that social media has made her feel upset (Turkle 2011, 257-261).
It has been observed from the entire book that we have started living in a virtual world due to technologies. It has made us far apart from the actual reality. We spend a large amount of time with technological advancements and has forgotten our responsibilities towards other human beings. We need to understand that technology is enchanting but in the end, it deceives us (Turkle, 2011, 1). It helps us to comprehend that being technologically advanced is a necessity but excessive use of it becomes a bane for all of us. It has made us isolated all together.
References
Turkle S., 2011. Alone Together. New York Basic Books
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