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The second self : computers and the human spirit

Published in Unknown Binding by ()

Author: Sherry Turkle

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A little bit of an open door.

A classic in the field of human/computer interaction, it suffers a bit from its age (although I was delighted to read about the way children interacted with Merlin and Simon, given that I was a child who had interacted with both of the above). Children are so much more saturated with computers and computer technology than when the book was written, that I wonder how the observations will have changed.

_The Second Self_ is divided into three parts:

Part I: Growing Up with Computers: The Animation of the Machine
Part II: The New Computer Cultures: The Mechanization of the Mind
Part III: Into a New Age

A classic - every researcher should have read!

I'm a fan of Turkle, so I just loved it. It's just one of the first deep books written about human-computer interaction.

Priceless Early Look at Hackers with "The Right Stuff"

This is "the" book that described the true origin of "hacking" as in "pushing the edge of the envelope" by writing a complex program in six lines of code instead of ten. This is a really superior piece of work about computer cultures and the people that belong to them. It is a wonderfully readable book with magnificent insights into the psychology of the young people at the bleeding edge of the computer frontier.

LIFE ON THE SCREEN

Published in Paperback by Touchstone Books (1997)

Author: Sherry Turkle

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High Quality - A Suggested Read

Sherry Turkle is a sociologist and a clinical psychologist. Her pioneering work has been done in the realm of computer mediated human interaction. One of her most commented on books is Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. This book is a serious look at the concept of identity and how identity is shaped on the Internet and through computer mediation.

Her major topic is how humans contain self on the Internet. She also spends a great deal of time discussing relationships on the Internet. With splintered selves involved, relationships become more complex. Her research on the way women and men view online sexuality is fascinating. Anyone interested in how the young people of the very near future will discover their sexual selves would do well to read this book. While Turkle is fairly straightforward in her findings, they may terrify some readers. This is a completely new sexuality, a completely foreign way of doing things. Her view is, of course, fairly clinical, but, in the end, I think she shows an amazing affinity with the people she has worked with. Turkle is not worried about the splintering of self. On the contrary, she thinks that some of these tactics: being able to play with and discover parts of yourself that you normally don't interact with is vital to development and mental health.

Another area that Turkle tackles is Artificial Intelligence. She considers AI to be the next frontier. These AI will be interacted with as a matter of course in the coming years, according to the author. Again, this area enthralls some readers and frightens others. Turkle is excited about what AI can do in terms of promoting dialog. Turkle sees the Internet challenging notions of what it means to be alive, notions of true identity, and the idea of community.

Turkle is at her best when she explores the concept of how people view themselves online. How they splinter off bits of their personality into different entities and play with and shape those identities. I can heartily suggest this book for anyone that works with K-12 students, for it is these students that are growing up on the screen. These are the students that are discovering community outside their immediate circle at younger and younger ages. These are the students that are discovering the meaning of identity online.

4 Stars out of 5.

Altering the self

Sherry Turkle has written an engaging and thought-provoking book about how computers and the Internet have altered our lives. Moving beyond the concept that computers are just a tool, Turkle explains to the reader how technology allows us to explore and even alter our sense of "self." The ability to interact with other netizens in a variety of virtual settings, while adopting new personalities, has given many the freedom to explore aspects of their self-identity that without the anonymity of the electronic world would be impossible. Simulation is another area that Turkle offers interesting insights into how people perceive the world around them as a result of being able to model various possibilities via a computer simulation. These simulations and other children's toys are creating a generation who are asking the question "Is it alive?" of objects that most view as nothing more than tools or toys. Overall, I found Life on the Screen to be well written and extremely thought provoking. While you may disagree with her conclusions about technology and its affect on our concept of self, one of the key aspects of this book is that it makes you think about how your life has been altered not only physically by computers but also emotionally and psychologically. A very good read.

Constructing Identity in the Culture of Simulation

The author presents in her book many thoughtful and provocating ways computers are being used. Starting out with computer games as places for teenagers to hide out to scientists trying to create artificial life to children "morphing" through a series of virtual personae. On the Internet, confrontations with technology collides with ones sense of human identity. Ms.Turkle takes the reader into the text-based games where over ten thousand players can create a character or several characters specifying genders or any other physical and psychological attributes. This book presents stories of how artificial intelligence (AI) is being re-visited. Models are being designed to attempt to simulate brain processes. Furthermore, she presents her idea that AI is borrowed freely from the languages of biology and parenting, with examples such as the high school English teacher and basketball coach who tried using small connected programs to help him figure out what team to field. But readers may also find interesting is her discussion on the multi-users-domains (MUDs). The information the author has gathered from her research is very informative and yet somewhat disturbing. She presents insight on how and why individuals seek to take on new or different personas on line. Her findings point out the problems people face in life and then escape to the Internet as a release. One of the passages from her book readers might find to be very provocative. She says "Women and men tell me that the rooms and mazes on MUDs are safer than city streets, virtual sex is safer than sex anywhere, MUD friendships are more intense than real ones, and when things don't work out you can always leave! After reading her book, a reader should have a better understanding on why so many take to the MUDs in order to escape the pressures and the problems that the real world presents. One can only assume that these individuals would rather indulge in these activities than solve their problems. In summary, Ms Turkle has described "the computer as a tool, as a mirror and as a gateway to a world through a looking glass of a screen. In each of these domains we are experiencing a complex interweaving of modern and postmodern, calculation and simulation".

Psychoanalytic Politics, Second Edition: Jacques Lacan and Freud's French Revolution

Published in Hardcover by Guilford Press (20 March, 1992)

Author: Sherry Turkle

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Provides the essential historical context for Lacan's work.

Turkle provides a perspective on the French context in which Lacan's revision of Freudian psychoanalytic theory took place.

Many clinicians and students will appreciate an understanding of the social, political and cultural millieu that allowed Lacan's ideas to flourish.

Within the story of psychoanalysis in France, Turkle provides some insight into some of the more puzzling aspects of Lacanian theory, often within historical context. At points, I had the impression that Turkle was applying some of Lacan's ideas to Lacan - a task which helped impress the logic of some of Lacan's behavior, where it would otherwise have seemed inscrutible.

I would recommend this book as an adjunct text for anyone intent on understanding Lacan the man, and his theories.