Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other

“Technology proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies.” 

The opening line of the book suggests that modern technology promises to bring us closer together and is increasingly crucial in establishing or maintaining deep social connection. Author Sherry Turkle explores whether technology facilitates this connection or threatens to make humans less connected to one another than ever.

“Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities.” 

Turkle introduces the idea of technology preying on our vulnerabilities, which she will later expand upon by contrasting it with things that prey upon on needs. Our biggest vulnerability has to do with a fear of intimacy and a need for social connection.

“Sociable robots serve as both symptom and dream: as a symptom, they promise a way to sidestep conflicts about intimacy; as a dream, they express a wish for relationships with limits, a way to be both together and alone.” 

Turkle believes our fascination with sociable robots is a symptom of our fear of intimacy. We are so eager to seek intimacy out in a safe, unthreatening form. Social robots demand a reaction from the user and thus offer something that looks like a relationship, but Turkle argues that these interactions may hamper humans’ abilities to create real connections with other humans.