History and Theory of New Media: Sherry Turkle (MIT) September 6, 2011

Technology is the architect of our intimacies. How does the culture of always-on/always-on-you connection give shape to new relationships and sensibilities, and beyond this, to a new state of the self.

Turkle has investigated the intersection of digital technology and human relationships from the early days of personal computers to our current world of robotics, artificial intelligence, social networking and mobile connectivity. She has shown how technology doesn't just catalyze changes in what we do - it affects how we think.

Turkle's research reveals a great paradox: technology may make connectivity easier, but it comes at a cost. Are we more alone or more together in our digital culture? As we substitute face-to-face interactions with fast-and-easy - yet often shallow - communication via our gadgets, the result is too often one of alienation and emotional dislocation. Her research also raises critical questions about technology's role in business productivity, asking whether multi-tasking actually leads to deteriorating performance in each of our tasks. Does our always connected state affect our ability to think, to be creative, and to innovate?

Sherry Turkle is a professor, author, consultant, researcher and licensed clinical psychologist who has spent the last 30 years researching the psychology of people's relationships with technology. She is the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, and founder and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self.

This is the first lecture in the Berkeley Center for New Media's new series History and Theory of New Media. The program invites interdisciplinary scholars whose work reflects critically on the nature of contemporary media. This lecture is Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Art Museum.

Official Website: http://bcnm.berkeley.edu