Reclaiming Conversation | Sherry Turkle | Talks at Google

Professor Sherry Turkle visited Google's office in Cambridge, MA to discuss her book, "Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age".
A preeminent author and researcher, Prof. Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence: at work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don’t have to look, listen, or reveal ourselves.
But there is good news: we are resilient. Conversation cures.
Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation. The most human-and humanizing-thing that we do.
Sherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and the founder (2001) and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. She has spent the last 30 years studying the psychology of people’s relationships with technology. A renowned media scholar, "Reclaiming Conversation" is her ninth book.

[@usn4america368]

I have never been too keen about talking on phones...even back when the phones were landlines....I always felt that HALF of the conversation was missing...no eye contact...no body language beyond voice inflection...no micro-expressions...etc. Cell/smart phones have only MAGNIFIED the issues. I am 71. I feel like the ancient Greek philosopher who wandered through the streets of Athens in the daytime...looking for an honest man. I find it difficult to find anyone who can maintain a conversation , with or w/o eye contact beyond two or 3 sentences...even with people whom I know are intelligent

[@bboucharde]

Doctor Turkle = Great woman! Respect to her.

[@bboucharde]

Nali Nisi Nali, Thank you!

[@snaprockandpop]

43:48 - Sherry talks about a "big shift in forcing people to put their devices away in order to get their full attention" - in the background, a mobile phone plays its ring tone ! Perfect.

[@usn4america368]

An "empathy" conversation with a robot doll is exactly the same as talking to Siri or Alexa or Cortana.....The lights are on but no one is Home...LITERALLY

[@ladytube64]

What a powerful lecture...just bought her book...Thank you Professor Turkle....

[@Vaidoteful]

What she said about 12 yrs old kids behaving like 8 yrs olds - is absolutely true. It is so obvious that XXI century children are behind with their emotional development... In other words, they seem to be very immature. The problem is, that if a person does not mature at the time that it corresponds, they will never catch up... They will remain immature all their lives...

[@aidand2902]

plenty of immature baby boomers, this is not a new phenomenon

[@mariacillan9668]

What a way to generalize an entire generation. Every generation has its immature people ffs

[@meanbeanmachine]

I was disappointed that Dr. Turkle didn't acknowledge the downsides of empathy. This absence was particularly glaring in her answer to a question about how much more difficult it is to make a sale over email versus face-to-face. From the salesperson's perspective, the distancing of email is a drag on their productivity, but from the buyer's perspective it is a boon to decision-making. By slowing down the transaction, it gives you more time to consider your options, likely producing a more rational decision. Furthermore, corresponding via email guards against anti-rational (but nonetheless effective) persuasion tactics such as interacting with an attractive salesperson. (People tend to unconsciously conflate attractiveness with intelligence and trustworthiness.)

[@nini_42]

You're making an interesting point about consumerism and decision-making. I disagree that is harder to sell something over email, or over any non face-to-face medium, than face-to-face. They seem to be talking about big sales, corporation-size sales and those are just a subset of all sales. The types of sales that are more vulnerable to impulse aren't those. Amazon isn't the leviathan that it is because people buy more in a shopping mall vs online. Shopping malls have been dying for a long time. It's much easier to get people to impulse-buy online, versus face-to-face.

[@whazzat8015]

Brilliant and touching.

[@usn4america368]

WOW!!! at 21:00 you described my sister. 60 years ago when I was 11 and she was 12 I used to tease her by telling her she was afraid of being alone with herself or her own thoughts. She always got mad..but it was true...60 years back to NOW...its exactly the same. I need BOTH: conversation...and times of reflective self analysis Sadly, I feel if the Internet/cell phone networks went OFFLINE for a week...most people would be running into walls or trees...like the BORG in Star Trek when they were disconnected from the HIVE MIND

[@emilymesser2355]

does anyone know the op ed from the NYT Turkle talks about in the final few minutes? I'd love to read it!

[@martijn282080]

Great talk!

[@s50201]

I've always wondered the mentality parents have to get their 12-yr old kids the newest $600 phone. 1) Get'em a basic phone 2) Make'em earn a smartphone

[@BTinHD]

Thank you.

[@usn4america368]

What it really means...relative to your speaking about phones at a lunch table...is that the phone or the potential caller...is more important than the person with whom you are sitting. After all...an incoming call relieves you of the necessity of an extended conversation in which you might have to actually THINK. Can you guess how many phone calls I have heard in which 95% of the words spoken are RIGHT....YES...NO...or OK??

[@johnf.sowards8707]

YOOO! Crucial.

[@denisenaj]

Es una vergüenza que google no traduzca las conferencias y las ponga a disposición en varios idiomas “

[@millerfour2071]

28:44, 39:21, 42:40, 48:26, 56:30, 58:50

[@zaydashavkatova9081]

10-15 years of research.... by the time it’s written about everything changes though....

[@tommitchell1908]

Sret5? But I can't

[@Welovevideos111]

God she's good 😂

[@SevenFootPelican]

Ironic she'd give this talk at Google of all places....

[@CoryFinlinson]

That's the most important place to give it, because they have power with technology. It could be possible to design future technology to be much less invasive.

[@WordWoman111]

Perfect place to give it. Hopefully it will guide their future planning. It should be required reading at Apple/Samsung

[@tommitchell1908]

Sret5? But I can't