First published 2015
Digital culture researcher Sherry Turkle turns her attention to a troubling shift in human behavior. After thirty years studying technology's impact on society, she documents how people increasingly avoid direct conversation in favor of digital alternatives. Turkle shows how this retreat affects multiple domains of life. Families sit silently at dinner tables while children and parents focus on their devices. Workers isolate themselves behind screens instead of engaging in productive workplace discussions. Citizens seek online echo chambers rather than confronting real political disagreements. The author traces this pattern to a deeper problem with solitude and self-reflection. Always connected to others through technology, people lose the ability to be alone with their thoughts. This dependence weakens empathy and authentic relationships. Turkle argues that conversation remains our most powerful tool for building democracy, business success, and personal connections. Drawing from five years of interviews in homes, schools, and workplaces, she makes the case that people can recover these lost conversational skills and offers hope for rebuilding human connection.
Genres: psychology, social-issues, non-fiction, 21st-century, communication, academic
Vibes: informative, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-commentary, technological-impact
Period: 21st-Century
448 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press