I'm nearly halfway through Alone Together. Coincidentally, I am a little more than halfway through the Book of Genesis as part of my Bible in a Year program. Genesis really shows people in a very interesting light. Brothers killing brothers, stealing each other's birthrights, daughters getting their dad drunk and sleeping with him so they can have a child. Brothers selling another brother into slavery. I've read Genesis many times, but these tales never cease to surprise me.
Of course I'm not saying that robots are better than people. They aren't. People have souls, and have the ability to have a relationship with God and, because of that relationship with our Loving God, we can serve God and others in a loving way. We can care. We can love.
We don't as often as we should. We as sinful and fallible humans often hurt one another. We do terrible things to each other. We have done so from the time of Genesis.
It is surprising to me that Turkle dismissing this so easily. So that's why I'm hoping as the book comes to a close she will address the larger issue here. The "expect less from each other" part of her book's title.
It isn't enough to just mention and move on quickly from the truth that humans to irreparable (in this life anyway, God will heal all in Heaven) damage to one another.
When talking about robots caring for the elderly she writes this, "Robots," says one writer, "will not abuse the elderly like some humans do in convalescent care facilities.' (page 123).
That's all she says. I don't understand why she hasn't addressed this truth at least a BIT more. Would you rather have David Harvey checking in on your grandma or Nursebot?
Why, why hasn't Turkle given equal, or even a bit more time to questions such as this?
She seems to be trying to combat a larger social ill- the wrongs that we do to one another- by blaming it all on robots. Her arguments fall flat and yes she does, at times seem to be quibbling with semantics.
What's Going On Here?
There are SO MANY wonderful book review blogs out there and I can't compete with them, that is for sure. So this is not a book review blog. This is just a way for me to organize what I have read so that I can be better at matching the right book to the right person. The blog title comes from the brilliant mind of the most talented woman who ever lived, Ms. Judy Garland. The full quote is, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." That is what I hope to do here and in ever aspect of my life.
Monday, January 16, 2012
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