Writing Assignment:
Write an extended definition, based on Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, of the New Solitude and profile someone whose life embodies this definition.
One. How does technology allow us to fall in love with the idea of life while disdaining the reality of life? “We are lonely yet fearful of intimacy.” See page 1. Consider the avatars from Second Life.
We begin to prefer archetypal forms, in simulated form, which conform to our preconceived ideas about what the object should be rather than reality. See the museum example on page 3. At Disneyland real creatures were not, people complained, “as real” as the animatronic ones.
In an age dominated by simulation, authenticity becomes the new forbidden, the new taboo. See page 4.
To conclude, we fear the loss of control we enjoy in tech life, we fear the give and take and compromise of real intimacy, and we prefer the simulated "real" over the real. These preferences make us more and more alone.
Two. What are the contradictions of a networked life? See page 1. And see page 3. “We romance the robot and and become inseparable from our smartphones.
The robot and the smartphone indulge us, massage our narcissistic side and as a result we don't do well in real relationships, which require compromise and suppression of our Inner Narcissist.
As this happens, we remake ourselves and our relationships with each other through our new intimacy with machines. . . . The network is seductive. But if we are always on, we may deny ourselves the rewards of solitude.”
Also see the “flattened personae” and using “emoticans for feelings” on pages 18 and 19.
Using emoticans to communicate makes us lazy and kills intimacy and soulful expression.
Three. What is the source of Sherry Turkle’s displeasure with the book Love and Sex with Robots?
There is a huge philosophical disagreement here. Are robots, that is to ask is “robot love” part of a healthy evolution or are a robot relationships a sign of our dissolved humanity? See pages 5-7. We control the robot but we don’t give and take like real humans. Control is not the same as intimacy and empathy. Control is part of a narcissistic character.
In fact, narcissism may be the most brutal byproduct of virtual reality fetishism.
Four. Describe the dependency and panic people have regarding their smartphones. See page 16. People feel disconnected and anxious and can't live "off the grid."
Five. We make our technologies and they make us; they shape us. In what way? That would make a good thesis. The technologies must indulge us, make us the center of attention, and give us a sense of control and high esteem; also they give us the illusion of intimacy without responsibility, empathy, and compromise with other humans (the very essential ingredients of real friendship and intimacy); they spare us the possibility for disappointment, rejection, and loss; and we begin to prefer these fake friendships to real ones. Thus we become fake, we become narcissistic, we become controlling, we become simulation-mongers (over the real) and we become tech addicts and we become partial attention bots.
Six. How do smartphones make us cyborgs living in a perpetual adolescence? See 151 and 152. We live in a “world of continual partial attention.” See page 161. We’ve all become “pauseable,” meaning people can “pause” us and get back to us when them want to.
Seven. How do distinctions blur between the “real” world and the cyber world? 153. We are “absent but tethered” at the same time.
Eight. What does Pete, and his avatar Rolo, say about Pete’s life? 159. He craves a “life mix,” going in and out of Internet, mixing the two worlds. We can take private party conversation and post it on blogs so we can “appear on a larger virtual stage.” See 162.
Nine. What is the slippery slope of Facebook described on page 160? We begin with using Facebook to supplement friendship but then eventually Facebook becomes the core source of a weakened friendship and is preferred over spending real time with our friends (perhaps now former friends)
Ten. Does having a Twitter, Facebook, and blog presence, required for many people to appear "current," enhance or detract from the job? See page 165. Many people feel spread thin. Good luck taking a vacation because your Twitter, Facebook, and blog interaction have to remain current or you could lose business by appearing "inactive."
Eleven. What is the false magic trap of texting? It feels like magic, we read on page 164, that we can text while doing something else so we feel that magic has taken place: time has been added to our busy lives, but in reality we fragment our attention and become the lesser for it.
Twelve. What antisocial behaviors result from smartphone addiction? No hello, no engagement with parents, no safety rules during driving. See page 164.
Thirteen. What is the "always-on culture" and how does it affect us? We constantly feel behind, inadequate, anxious, and unable to enjoy solitude and intimacy. There is this fear that if I go off the grid, for even a week or two, I may return irrelevant and forgotten. This is a sort of psychosis.
Fourteen. Why are young people drawn to smartphone culture or a "networked life"? One, because the Net is something larger than they are and they can become of this Larger Thing. Two, they feel they are stealing time by multi-tasking. Three, they can play roles they can't play otherwise because they can control and embellish their online "profile." Four, being networked gives them a sense of independence from their parents (though parents can keep tabs on them with software).
Review Lexicon
1. New Solitude: We are mentally absent (partially attentive at best) but tethered to others in a degraded way through the "Network," Twitter, Facebook, texting, etc.
2. Avatar: a created persona that becomes our Network identity. This identity lacks complexity and as such becomes a "flattened personae."
3. New Taboo : Authenticity, the messy real becomes loathed in place of preconceived archetypal forms.
4. emoticon: a pictorial representation of an emotion such as a happy or sad face.
5. New Pseudo-Intimacy: We are massaged and caressed by our Network relationships, which indulge our narcissism and we feel in control of these relationships so we avoid real intimacy,which requires compromise and give and take.
6. Off the Grid: going off the Network and disappearing for a while.
7. Technological Narcissism: Our gadgets make us feel like we're the center of attention and this feeling of being at the center (cynosure) becomes an addiction making us addicted to our Network.
8. Perpetual adolescence: living a life of "continual partial attention" as we multitask from one network to another. We toggle ourselves into adolscent multitasking.
9. Pausable: Anyone can be put on pause as we navigate our Network, which makes us feel supreme and in control. This feeling is valued over real relationships.
10. Life Mix: Navigating between our real and avatar selves.
11. Facebook Slippery Slope
12. Always-On Culture
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