In 'Simulation and Its Discontents,' Sherry Turkle delves into the complexities and contradictions of a world increasingly mediated by technology. The book explores how simulations influence our social interactions and shape our identities in a digital landscape. Turkle raises thought-provoking questions about the implications of living in a reality where technology blurs the lines between the real and the virtual. Through captivating anecdotes and research, she reveals the psychological impact of our reliance on digital connections. This critical examination leaves readers pondering: are we more connected or disconnected in our simulated lives?
By Sherry Turkle
Published: 2009
""We are not only our ideas and our beliefs, but the ways we relate to others in the spaces we create—all the worlds we inhabit simultaneously shape who we are.""
How the simulation and visualization technologies so pervasive in science, engineering, and design have changed our way of seeing the world. Over the past twenty years, the technologies of simulation and visualization have changed our ways of looking at the world. In Simulation and Its Discontents, Sherry Turkle examines the now dominant medium of our working lives and finds that simulation has become its own sensibility. We hear it in Turkle's description of architecture students who no longer design with a pencil, of science and engineering students who admit that computer models seem more “real” than experiments in physical laboratories. Echoing architect Louis Kahn's famous question, “What does a brick want?”, Turkle asks, “What does simulation want?” Simulations want, even demand, immersion, and the benefits are clear. Architects create buildings unimaginable before virtual design; scientists determine the structure of molecules by manipulating them in virtual space; physicians practice anatomy on digitized humans. But immersed in simulation, we are vulnerable. There are losses as well as gains. Older scientists describe a younger generation as “drunk with code.” Young scientists, engineers, and designers, full citizens of the virtual, scramble to capture their mentors' tacit knowledge of buildings and bodies. From both sides of a generational divide, there is anxiety that in simulation, something important is slipping away. Turkle's examination of simulation over the past twenty years is followed by four in-depth investigations of contemporary simulation culture: space exploration, oceanography, architecture, and biology.
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“"We are not only our ideas and our beliefs, but the ways we relate to others in the spaces we create—all the worlds we inhabit simultaneously shape who we are."”
Simulation and Its Discontents
By Sherry Turkle
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Sherry Turkle is a renowned professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, as well as a clinical psychologist and author. Her notable works include 'Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other,' 'Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age,' and 'The Empathy Diaries,' where she explores the intricate relationship between humans and technology. Turkle's writing style blends academic rigor with accessibility, often using personal anecdotes and case studies to illustrate her points, making complex ideas relatable to a general audience.
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