Most conversations today involve distracted people looking at their phones and not their partners. This, according to Sherry Turkle, is leading to a “crisis of empathy” at work, at home and in our public life. Turkle is Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, and spent four decades studying the relationship between people and technology. Her current research indicates that the decline in thoughtful face-to-face dialogue constitutes an epidemic and that in moving from “conversation to mere connection”, we are losing our humanity.
Recorded 2/3/16 
Sherry Turkle is Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and the director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self.
Her newest book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age (Penguin Press, October 2015), is a call to action. “It is not an anti-technology book but a pro-conversation book!” according to Turkle, which illustrates how fleeing from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity.
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