If people start to buy the idea that machines are great companions for the elderly or for children, as they increasingly seem to do, we are really playing with fire.
Sherry TurkleRead
If we're not able to be alone, we're going to be more lonely. And if we don't teach our children to be alone, they're only going to know how to be lonely.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The ability to be comfortable alone is essential to prevent feelings of loneliness, both for ourselves and in teaching our children.
Sherry Turkle suggests that the skill of enjoying one's own company is crucial for mental well-being. When individuals rely solely on others for company, they may struggle with feelings of loneliness, and if children aren't taught the value of solitude, they might grow up feeling isolated and lonely without understanding how to appreciate their own company.
Themes
LonelinessSolitudeChildrenRelationshipsSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a seminar on mental health, you might quote Turkle to emphasize the importance of teaching children self-reliance.
More from Sherry Turkle
All quotes →We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.
Sherry TurkleRead
The most used program in computers and education is PowerPoint. What are you learning about the nature of the medium by knowing how do to a great PowerPoint presentation? Nothing. It certainly doesn't teach you how to think critically about living in a culture of simulation.
Sherry TurkleRead
Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities. And as it turns out, we are very vulnerable indeed. We are lonely but fearful of intimacy. Digital connections and the sociable robot may offer the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. Our networked life allows us to hide from each other, even as we are tethered to each other. We’d rather text than talk.
Sherry TurkleRead
Human relationships are rich and they're messy and they're demanding. And we clean them up with technology. Texting, email, posting, all of these things let us present the self as we want to be. We get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch, the face, the voice, the flesh, the body -- not too little, not too much, just right.
Sherry TurkleRead
The feeling that 'no one is listening to me' make us want to spend time with machines that seem to care about us.
Sherry TurkleRead
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