We are trying (as Marshall McLuhan said) to retribalize. And the computer is playing a central role … These shifts raise many questions. What will computer-mediated communication do to our commitment to other people? Will it satisfy our needs for connection and social participation, or will it further undermine fragile relationships? What kind of responsibility and accountability will we assume for our virtual actions?
Predictor: Turkle, Sherry
Prediction, in context:In her 1995 book “Life on the Screen,” Sherry Turkle – an accomplished social psychologist, sociologist and anthropologist from MIT whose studies centered around people and computers for decades – writes: ”Many people spend most of their day alone at the screen of a television or a computer. Meanwhile, social beings that we are, we are trying (as Marshall McLuhan said) to retribalize. And the computer is playing a central role. We correspond with each other through electronic mail and contribute to electronic bulletin boards and mailing lists; we join interest groups whose participants include people from all over the world. Our rootedness to place has attenuated. These shifts raise many questions. What will computer-mediated communication do to our commitment to other people? Will it satisfy our needs for connection and social participation, or will it further undermine fragile relationships? What kind of responsibility and accountability will we assume for our virtual actions?”
Biography:Sherry Turkle was the author of “Life on the Screen: Computers and the Human Spirit.” and a professor of the psychology of science at MIT. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Ethics/Values
Name of publication: Life on the Screen (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 7: Aspects of the Self
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 178
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney