In the 30 years Sherry Turkle has studied peopleās relationships with technology, sheās noticed a disturbing trend: the very technologies that were meant to help people connect more efficiently and productively with each other have instead contributed to the demise of face-to-face conversations and to āa crisis of empathy that has diminished us at home, at work, and in public life.ā
In, Turkle asserts that conversationāāa talking cureāāis the remedy. She shares numerous anecdotes of the failures of technology to enhance peopleās humanity and, in contrast, offers hopeful guidelines for reclaiming conversation. These include admitting our vulnerability to technologies; setting aside āsacred spacesā at home, school, work, and in the public domain that are free of technological devices; and embracing solitude in order to develop creativity and experience restoration. (Penguin Press)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.