Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology Sherry Turkle, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), last evening noted that mankind is still in the early stages of figuring out how technology affects society and how to adapt accordingly.
"Some opening questions are: How does technology change who we are, how we relate to each other, how we learn, and what are we not paying attention to?" Turkle said.
To illustrate society's preoccupation with technology, Turkle began by sharing an anecdote about how the first photos of the combined Congressional lunch after President Barack Obama's inauguration showed Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy on their cell phones.
Turkle was delivering the biannual Richard E. Snyder Presidential Lecture, in which she discussed the topic of "CyberIntimacy/CyberSolitude." Turkle is the founder of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, which she currently directs, and is an expert on the relationship between humans and technology.
University President Lawrence Bacow introduced the lecture by explaining that the lecture series was started when Richard Snyder (A '55), former chairman and chief executive officer of Simon and Schuster, suggested bringing to campus individuals who have attained career success by being willing to challenge conventions.
"This specific lecture came about through an e−mail where Dick was bemoaning that this generation seems to get all of its information from texts and tweets, what was happening to the world and who might lead us in an informed discussion," Bacow said. "I can't think of anybody better to explain this. It takes great courage to have explored these subjects of computers and people at a place like MIT, and that is something that Sherry has done well."
Turkle talked about the standard benefits associated with technology, namely that it allows one to keep up with friends, make new friends and experiment with identity.
"I just went to my fifth−grade reunion," Turkle said. "You didn't have fifth−grade reunions before, but now you do."
She continued by noting that adolescents in particular experiment the most with their identities and that the Internet could aid in this experimentation.
Turkle pointed out, however, that technology was not necessarily unequivocally beneficial and that it is healthy to examine its effects carefully.
"There are some caveats," Turkle said. "Why we focus on discontents is not to deny any of the good points, but it often illuminates very deeply held values and commitments that we aren't focusing enough on. Discontents are not about nostalgia; it is a way to identify sacred spaces."
"Technology asks the question, ‘Does it serve our human purposes?'" she said. "This is a question that forces us to determine what am I missing and if this technology really is serving my human purposes."
Turkle disagreed with the notion expressed by some of her colleagues at MIT that technology is nothing but a tool.
"It's like the Winston Churchill quote," Turkle said. "We build our buildings, and our buildings make and shape us. Technology is the same way."
Turkle also discussed some of her research with teenagers in four Boston−area high schools, in which she asked the question, "Do we know how to have a moment when something is not happening?"
"How many great authors wrote their books on trains?" Turkle said. "The sense is that we can be some place and not be able to do anything but think. Can we have a moment unshared? What are we expressing when we need to share every detail of our lives with the public?"
Turkle highlighted some findings from the study, which included evidence that teenagers preferred sending text messages or instant messages over face−to−face interaction in order to avoid the threat of rejection.
Her study also found that multitasking was not as beneficial as people once thought.
"Every time you multitask, your brain gets hit with a shot of dopamine, which makes the multi−tasker feel like he or she is successful, competent and productive," Turkle said. "New studies show that you may feel fabulous, but that you are draining your task proficiency in every task that you do."
Turkle ended her lecture by warning against accepting as a fact of life the intrusion of technology on individuals' privacy.
"The common idea … was, ‘If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear,'" Turkle said. "And that we should just be good. This is me editorializing, but a citizen should not be good. We need to leave room for dissent, real dissent."
