Alone Together by Sherry Turkle - Book Review Essay Example

Technology has made digital connectedness and sociable robot to offer companionship without demands of friendship. After exploring the world of social robots, we find ourselves treating other people like objects. Turkle points to the online world. We have invented ourselves ways of being with those we wish into something close to objects. This has made the world to be no longer space free. Technology has made people look younger, richer, responsive and smartly dressed than they actually are. Sociable robots have been employed to filter companionship through machines and also in the caring role of nursing and entertaining children (Arnd-Caddigan). There is little real interaction in the world at the moment. Close family members are becoming unreliable and a source of stress to each other as the digital world advances.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

With technology, people can do anything with anyone anywhere. This has made people feel overwhelmed and attempts to do everything everywhere. Many people have turned on technology to fill the void and make them comfortable, but as technology grows, their emotional life is affected negatively (Spangler). People all over are celebrating the freedom of online identity. Turkle sees technology as a life on a screen and instead of being constrained with real life situation, people should use the Web to experiment and try other personalities. The online users who pretend are what they pretend to be. This paper analyses what technology and increased connectivity are transforming human communication and relationships.

Technology in the modern world is doing things man beyond the knowledge of man. From the book Alone Together, by Turkle, the optimism of traditional world is far gone. People spend hours sending texts on Messenger and Facebook and emails each and every day. These things only exist in the current generation and adults are forced to match the digital era set by their grandchildren (Cerf). There are a lot of unsettling relationships between lovers and friends as many people are concentrating on machines and can still find comfort in them. Indeed, most of these relationships waste a lot of time and money. Stress from family and friends can be relieved through sociable robots.

The modern technology allows individuals engage in unbridled expression. Turkle has described the today's technology as a corporate trap, a ball and a chain that keeps one tethered. Everyone is tethered to tiny screens of cellphones writing messages to stay in touch. There are a summary of things expected from technology which are typically eloquent. Children and parents have had instabilities in understanding the privacy and the community. They have found companionship in robots.

After nurturing robots for months, there is a bond formed which provokes emotional connectedness. After some time, they find it difficult to leave the machine alone even at night due to the parental attachment they have with the machine. This gives the children a clear picture of nurturing their families even in the future, it should not be only a matter of concern when one is attached to the machine but one should also consider the future implications.

In the current generation, people have acquired the capacity to project human behaviors to the inanimate objects. Humans have also developed a strong belief filling in the gaps the imagined feelings of robots (Spangler). They have even suggested for the computer to manipulate the robot for its success. There is an alarming rate of production of the robots. Recreational sex robots, pet robots, and mechanical nurses are already available to comfort people. Most people will prefer the robot at home rather that can satisfy the exact needs requited other than going for a blind date.