Alone Together - Sherry Turkle

A profound call by Sherry Turkel author of the new book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other

• The little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful that they don't only change what we do; they change who we are.
• We are setting up ourselves for trouble - trouble certainly in how we relate to each other but also trouble in how we relate to ourselves in our capacity for self reflection. 
• Snippets of information doesn't work for learning about each other, for really coming to know and understand each other. 
• We expect more from technology and less from each other because technology appeals to us where we are most vulnerable.
• I share therefore I am - Before it was I have a feeling, I want to make a call. Now it's I want to have a feeling, I need to send a text. 
• We end up isolated we don't cultivate the capacity for solitude - the ability to separate, to gather yourself. Solitude is where you find yourself, so that you can reach out to other people and form real attachments. When we don't have capacity for solitude we turn to other people to feel less anxious and in order to feel alive and we tend to use them as spare parts to support our fragile sense of self. 
• If we don't teach out children to be alone, they will only know how to be alone. 
• Start thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it.