Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet
Encyclopedia
Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, by clinical psychologist
and professor Sherry Turkle
, is a study of how people interact with machines, and some of the consequences for the way people use these computers. It was first published in November 1995. In the book Turkle explains how peoples' opinion of computers have evolved through time and some of the implications for the new uses of the computer.
and artificial life
. The major observation she derives from her study of these subjects is the constant struggle by people to make a distinction between humans and machines. When AI first came about, there were two different approaches: emergent and rule-driven. Originally, rule-driven AI was more practical. People at the time never even considered humans to be anything like machines. Later computers became more widely used and technology allowed emergent AI to come about. People said machines couldn't be like people because humans had feelings and were spontaneous. Emergent AI was similar to being spontaneous so the boundary had to be redrawn. As technology improved machines began to act more and more humanoid. People's opinions of computers had evolved along with the technology. Turkle observed that where once people refused to even think of machines as a very basic human mind, now they referred to their own mind as machine-like at times. She also noticed that people now began to talk to machines freely without much embarrassment. The boundary between humans and machines had been broken down to one point, humans are alive where machines are not. With the development of a-life, that weak boundary is becoming weaker. Turkle questions how we define life and simulated life.
Turkle dedicates a section entitled "On the Internet" to her observations about how people use the technology. Within this section she argues that misrepresenting oneself in a MUD
may have the benefit of being therapeutic
. Turkle also considers the problem of differentiating between real life crimes and those which occur in online environments. She questions the ferocity and dangers of online "rape" because of the differing reactions she has seen to it. She also discusses the problem of underage children posing as adults. This misrepresentation could potentially lead to a relationship with a genuine adult.
In the same section, Turkle also observes that women have a "non-linear" approach to computers. This she calls "soft mastery" and "bricolage
" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming).
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and professor Sherry Turkle
Sherry Turkle
Sherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a sociologist...
, is a study of how people interact with machines, and some of the consequences for the way people use these computers. It was first published in November 1995. In the book Turkle explains how peoples' opinion of computers have evolved through time and some of the implications for the new uses of the computer.
Subject matter
In the section titled "Of Dreams and Beasts", Turkle focuses on how the boundary between humans and machines has evolved to become extremely vague. She pays great attention to the development of artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and artificial life
Artificial life
Artificial life is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution through simulations using computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986...
. The major observation she derives from her study of these subjects is the constant struggle by people to make a distinction between humans and machines. When AI first came about, there were two different approaches: emergent and rule-driven. Originally, rule-driven AI was more practical. People at the time never even considered humans to be anything like machines. Later computers became more widely used and technology allowed emergent AI to come about. People said machines couldn't be like people because humans had feelings and were spontaneous. Emergent AI was similar to being spontaneous so the boundary had to be redrawn. As technology improved machines began to act more and more humanoid. People's opinions of computers had evolved along with the technology. Turkle observed that where once people refused to even think of machines as a very basic human mind, now they referred to their own mind as machine-like at times. She also noticed that people now began to talk to machines freely without much embarrassment. The boundary between humans and machines had been broken down to one point, humans are alive where machines are not. With the development of a-life, that weak boundary is becoming weaker. Turkle questions how we define life and simulated life.
Turkle dedicates a section entitled "On the Internet" to her observations about how people use the technology. Within this section she argues that misrepresenting oneself in a MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
may have the benefit of being therapeutic
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
. Turkle also considers the problem of differentiating between real life crimes and those which occur in online environments. She questions the ferocity and dangers of online "rape" because of the differing reactions she has seen to it. She also discusses the problem of underage children posing as adults. This misrepresentation could potentially lead to a relationship with a genuine adult.
In the same section, Turkle also observes that women have a "non-linear" approach to computers. This she calls "soft mastery" and "bricolage
Bricolage
Bricolage is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by such a process...
" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming).
External links
- Life on the Screen - preview at Google BooksGoogle Book SearchGoogle Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October...
- Life on the Screen: Overview