Even though Sherry Turkle and Stephen Marche share the same claim of technology causing loneliness, Marche uses statistics of the dropping number of confidants to explains his point in a superior manner compared to Turkle’s worrisome evidence of technology destroying conversation. Sherry Turkle, Director of MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, gave a speech in 2012 titled “Connected, but Alone?” She spoke about how social media is deterring people from having conversations face to face. With the absence of in person conversations, people are losing the intimacy of the interaction. Similarly, Stephen March wrote an article in 2012 titled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” Along with shocking examples of social media’s influence on society, he
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This is a dilemma because if one is always connected to others he or she will never learn how to self-reflect and learn him or herself. Turkle explains that she hears people saying, “I’d rather text then talk…” (9:01-9:03) This is a demonstration of the fear of being ignored. People rather speak to or through a machine to guarantee that their thoughts and opinions do not fall on deaf ears even though the computer cannot comprehend the meaning of their words. Society is beginning to expect more from machines and artificial intelligence than real living breathing and thinking human beings. Lonely, but terrified of intimacy. Connected, but alone. Heard, but ignored. People are searching for “the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship.” (12:28-12:31) Why is constant companionship a necessity? Why do we fear solitude? Sherry Turkle eloquently answers these questions by stating “It’s as though we are using them (other people) as spare parts to support our fragile sense of self.” (15:05-15:11 By saying this, Turkle is telling us that if we as a society do not learn ourselves and learn how to be alone, we will only know how to be lonely. We are connected to many, however we are disconnected from …show more content…
In his article, he begins with a shocking and morbid story of a woman found mummified in her house. Intriguingly enough, her computer was still functioning. When the news about her lonely death was publicized, it became the subject of 16,057 Facebook posts and 881 tweets. Later, information of her most recent social activities were researched. Months before her death, she was not in contact with her friends or her family. Instead, she spoke to her fans. Marche then reveals his major point with the words, “We are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible.” Here he is explaining that people live in a socially connected isolation that is entirely exclusive to this generation. Marche then declares poetically, “We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier. In a world consumed by ever more novel modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society.” This statement simply expresses that social media is causing people to be detached from each other and with the world encouraging this aloof socialization, society itself will
This is a dilemma because if one is always connected to others he or she will never learn how to self-reflect and learn him or herself. Turkle explains that she hears people saying, “I’d rather text then talk…” (9:01-9:03) This is a demonstration of the fear of being ignored. People rather speak to or through a machine to guarantee that their thoughts and opinions do not fall on deaf ears even though the computer cannot comprehend the meaning of their words. Society is beginning to expect more from machines and artificial intelligence than real living breathing and thinking human beings. Lonely, but terrified of intimacy. Connected, but alone. Heard, but ignored. People are searching for “the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship.” (12:28-12:31) Why is constant companionship a necessity? Why do we fear solitude? Sherry Turkle eloquently answers these questions by stating “It’s as though we are using them (other people) as spare parts to support our fragile sense of self.” (15:05-15:11 By saying this, Turkle is telling us that if we as a society do not learn ourselves and learn how to be alone, we will only know how to be lonely. We are connected to many, however we are disconnected from …show more content…
In his article, he begins with a shocking and morbid story of a woman found mummified in her house. Intriguingly enough, her computer was still functioning. When the news about her lonely death was publicized, it became the subject of 16,057 Facebook posts and 881 tweets. Later, information of her most recent social activities were researched. Months before her death, she was not in contact with her friends or her family. Instead, she spoke to her fans. Marche then reveals his major point with the words, “We are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible.” Here he is explaining that people live in a socially connected isolation that is entirely exclusive to this generation. Marche then declares poetically, “We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier. In a world consumed by ever more novel modes of socializing, we have less and less actual society.” This statement simply expresses that social media is causing people to be detached from each other and with the world encouraging this aloof socialization, society itself will