yetilibrary's review
4.0
This gets four stars because I forsook all other e-reader books to stay with this one--it was so engaging for me that it feels dishonest to give it a lower rating.
THAT SAID, it's not really what it says on the tin. This book is not focused on empathy, although Dr Turkle does bring it up repeatedly. This book is also not necessarily what I'd call a memoir, as parts of it become very academic and are more focused on Dr Turkle's studies and work than they are on her life. (And, none of this is a diary. You can call a lot of books "diaries" that aren't in a diary format, of course, and it can work fine, but for this book it feels particularly inapt. Your mileage may vary here.) The result is a mix of her life story and her academic work that's not enough of either, and while a discussion of empathy is supposedly the thread that ties it all together, it--just doesn't. It feels like she wanted to write a memoir, but also wanted to tie in some ideas about her childhood into her academic work, and when she realized that the common denominator is empathy, she tried to work that in after the fact, without finishing the memoir OR fully fleshing out her academic thoughts.
At the end, I was frustrated. The memoir part mostly ended when she was in her 30s (she's 73 now, come on!) and the academic discussion was somehow both intense (Jacques Lacan!) and skimpy (I know enough to be intrigued about her work but not enough about the work itself). I think this book was supposed to be two different books, and I hope Dr Turkle will remedy this by finishing at least one of them and publishing it.
tl;dr Very engaging but also unsatisfying. Feels like two different, unfinished books that Dr Turkle attempted to stitch together after the fact using the concept of empathy, and her effort was not entirely successful.
THAT SAID, it's not really what it says on the tin. This book is not focused on empathy, although Dr Turkle does bring it up repeatedly. This book is also not necessarily what I'd call a memoir, as parts of it become very academic and are more focused on Dr Turkle's studies and work than they are on her life. (And, none of this is a diary. You can call a lot of books "diaries" that aren't in a diary format, of course, and it can work fine, but for this book it feels particularly inapt. Your mileage may vary here.) The result is a mix of her life story and her academic work that's not enough of either, and while a discussion of empathy is supposedly the thread that ties it all together, it--just doesn't. It feels like she wanted to write a memoir, but also wanted to tie in some ideas about her childhood into her academic work, and when she realized that the common denominator is empathy, she tried to work that in after the fact, without finishing the memoir OR fully fleshing out her academic thoughts.
At the end, I was frustrated. The memoir part mostly ended when she was in her 30s (she's 73 now, come on!) and the academic discussion was somehow both intense (Jacques Lacan!) and skimpy (I know enough to be intrigued about her work but not enough about the work itself). I think this book was supposed to be two different books, and I hope Dr Turkle will remedy this by finishing at least one of them and publishing it.
tl;dr Very engaging but also unsatisfying. Feels like two different, unfinished books that Dr Turkle attempted to stitch together after the fact using the concept of empathy, and her effort was not entirely successful.
bkish's review
4.0
I think of this book in two separate parts that could b much better connected.
Prof Sherry Turkle (MIT) wrote a memoir and it Includes her known views of technology social media and their effects on people. Some of the people who use it and also build it living most of their lives facing screens areher psych patients in her private practice.
Thenthere is her telling of her life that began in Brooklyn in two neighborhoods her mother and brother and her grandparents and aunt in another neighborhood. Then her mother remarries and she has another brother and a sister. The family is Jewish and low income. From earlySherry is a brilliant child and that never changes. There are family problems w her own father and her mother who left him wants him forgotten.
For me all of the early years were so exciting asеКi too am jewish from brooklyn so so many places are familiar to me.
The story of her life changes yet its still Sherry as she enters Radcliff on scholarship and travels to Paris for her thesis and to experience it. In time she is intern or a lecturer at MIT. She in time has PhD from Harvard in social sciences and another subject. Also she begins training as psychologist and enters her own psychoanalysis
She is a thinker not a social relationshipеКperson. Thats how she succeedsin those years in a world scene where men succeed. How she got her tenure at MIT is quite a story of how her mind works.
I couldnt help but admire herin her profession her brilliant mind and having a daughter now an adult. Also i found her lacking in connections to people and that was obvious with her mother,
Its rather unusual that someone that cerebral would make name for herself declaring the lackеКof human emotions including empathy is caused by people overusing their digital devices
Judy g
Prof Sherry Turkle (MIT) wrote a memoir and it Includes her known views of technology social media and their effects on people. Some of the people who use it and also build it living most of their lives facing screens areher psych patients in her private practice.
Thenthere is her telling of her life that began in Brooklyn in two neighborhoods her mother and brother and her grandparents and aunt in another neighborhood. Then her mother remarries and she has another brother and a sister. The family is Jewish and low income. From earlySherry is a brilliant child and that never changes. There are family problems w her own father and her mother who left him wants him forgotten.
For me all of the early years were so exciting asеКi too am jewish from brooklyn so so many places are familiar to me.
The story of her life changes yet its still Sherry as she enters Radcliff on scholarship and travels to Paris for her thesis and to experience it. In time she is intern or a lecturer at MIT. She in time has PhD from Harvard in social sciences and another subject. Also she begins training as psychologist and enters her own psychoanalysis
She is a thinker not a social relationshipеКperson. Thats how she succeedsin those years in a world scene where men succeed. How she got her tenure at MIT is quite a story of how her mind works.
I couldnt help but admire herin her profession her brilliant mind and having a daughter now an adult. Also i found her lacking in connections to people and that was obvious with her mother,
Its rather unusual that someone that cerebral would make name for herself declaring the lackеКof human emotions including empathy is caused by people overusing their digital devices
Judy g
cafeduke's review
3.0
I read a review by a local librarian that put more emphasis on the relationship between empathy and technology than on strictly memoir. I felt this book was much more a memoir than anything to do with tech. The technology she did mention was more of an aside in the last chapter and epilogue than a real subject she goes in depth about. What she does say in the epilogue I completely disagree with. I whole-heartedly believe tech can help with human relationships and act as a stand-in, when programmed correctly, for human analysts where many are missing. There is a huge shortage of shrinks right now. If a digital version could fill the void with the knowledge of the patients, I don't see why that would be wrong. I have enough faith in people that they can tell human from machine without confusing the two.
As a memoir I suppose it's good. Reading about a woman with a shitty father, shitty step-father, and mother who felt inadequate while navigating life in a field dominated by men...meh, been there, done most of that. I was only short a step-father and feelings of my own inadequacy. Reading about someone else putting up with the same garbage, especially when she is clearly so skilled and motivated to excel in her field is aggravating and a bit depressing. Outside of family it doesn't sound like she had a lot of support. This is further proof we need to lift each other up rather than stand idly by while our sisters are being punched down. It's not my cup of tea.
As a memoir I suppose it's good. Reading about a woman with a shitty father, shitty step-father, and mother who felt inadequate while navigating life in a field dominated by men...meh, been there, done most of that. I was only short a step-father and feelings of my own inadequacy. Reading about someone else putting up with the same garbage, especially when she is clearly so skilled and motivated to excel in her field is aggravating and a bit depressing. Outside of family it doesn't sound like she had a lot of support. This is further proof we need to lift each other up rather than stand idly by while our sisters are being punched down. It's not my cup of tea.
enehrlich's review
5.0
Touching memoir where Turkle vulnerably shares private details of her childhood and life that illuminate the directions that her research took throughout her life. I had been only peripherally aware of her work beyond knowing the titles The Second Self and Life on the Screen, but appreciated this deep sharing of her journey as a person that traced how her research themes echoed her own story.
She describes how when computers were becoming mainstream, people realized that we could no longer distinguish ourselves as special due to our thinking (because computers could out-logic and out-think us), and instead said what made us special is our feelings, our capacity for empathy.
She ends with a call that it will be a terrible loss if we reduce ourselves to what computers find legible, and lose our empathy and deep vulnerability with each other. She shows us the way by sharing her own story in a forthright way, not hiding it out of shame or privacy, and through that sharing, connects with readers like me. That sharing is the essence of humanity, and she asks us not to lose it in the service of efficiency and avoiding shame and our feelings.
She describes how when computers were becoming mainstream, people realized that we could no longer distinguish ourselves as special due to our thinking (because computers could out-logic and out-think us), and instead said what made us special is our feelings, our capacity for empathy.
She ends with a call that it will be a terrible loss if we reduce ourselves to what computers find legible, and lose our empathy and deep vulnerability with each other. She shows us the way by sharing her own story in a forthright way, not hiding it out of shame or privacy, and through that sharing, connects with readers like me. That sharing is the essence of humanity, and she asks us not to lose it in the service of efficiency and avoiding shame and our feelings.
sarlope12's review
4.0
This is one of the best memoirs I have read. Sherry is an inspiration, and her work in the field is utterly fascinating. I feel like more people should read this to better understand how humans interact with technology and how it affects us and our ability to connect. The epilogue alone made this story incredible. We are so lucky to have people like Sherry in the world who care so deeply about this issue. I loved it and think everyone should read it.
kakishort's review
4.0
As we struggle to absorb and adapt to the technological changes of the last 50 years and their impacts on our world, it's amazing to read the life story of one of the few people who anticipated the scale and scope of this disruption.
In Turkle's life story, we find the roots of her quest to better understand empathy, identity, and connection. Her early life as a Jewish child growing up in a loving family plagued by secrets provides her with a keen understanding of these topics years before many of us develop the capacity to see ourselves from outside of our own experiences. These early and painful lessons give her a unique perspective to pursue the psychological and sociological aspects of the computer revolution.
As computers and programming evolve in their early phases in the 1960s and 1970s, Turkle is witness to the ways these tools are changing life. She is asked to help form MIT's Science, Technology, and Society Program, where she faces many challenges to her work, including the pro-tech bias for hard numbers over lived experience.
In Turkle's life story, we find the roots of her quest to better understand empathy, identity, and connection. Her early life as a Jewish child growing up in a loving family plagued by secrets provides her with a keen understanding of these topics years before many of us develop the capacity to see ourselves from outside of our own experiences. These early and painful lessons give her a unique perspective to pursue the psychological and sociological aspects of the computer revolution.
As computers and programming evolve in their early phases in the 1960s and 1970s, Turkle is witness to the ways these tools are changing life. She is asked to help form MIT's Science, Technology, and Society Program, where she faces many challenges to her work, including the pro-tech bias for hard numbers over lived experience.
gvenezia's review
4.0
A well-written memoir, more interesting than the standard fare for containing a bit of intellectual history. That said, I'm not sure this memoir will become a classic of the genre or will carry the hype and adulation from its publication year into years hence.
But the book was infused with unique meaning by reading it alongside one of Turkle's research-based works, [b:Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other|8694125|Alone Together Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other|Sherry Turkle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328841533l/8694125._SY75_.jpg|13566692]. Neither book by itself was poignant or prescient, but paired together, one gets a unique look at the intellectual history of technologically mediated psychology.
But the book was infused with unique meaning by reading it alongside one of Turkle's research-based works, [b:Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other|8694125|Alone Together Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other|Sherry Turkle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328841533l/8694125._SY75_.jpg|13566692]. Neither book by itself was poignant or prescient, but paired together, one gets a unique look at the intellectual history of technologically mediated psychology.