Devi Nair
š§ Listened in audio š¢ Narrated by Kirsten Potten ā± Duration: 13 hours š·ļø Publisher: Books on Tape / Penguin Press š Published: October 6, 2015 š Genre: Non-Fiction
Sherry Turkle isn't anti-technology. She's pro-human, and that distinction matters. The book holds up a mirror on how our devices are quietly taking over our lives. It asks you to look at what you're trading away every time you reach for the phone mid-conversation. Spoiler: A lot!! Empathy. Presence. Your own inner monologue. The stories are rich with actual research, from homes, schools, and offices. Listening to this book made me aware of how often I reached for my phone mid-conversation or filled quiet moments with scrolling. Having a one-year old niece, I started thinking hard about the example I'm setting for her. I don't want her memories of me to be of someone always half-present, thumb hovering over a screen.
What hit me the hardest was the part about multitasking, specifically about how the expectation to multitask has gotten so deep into our bones that we're now incapable of living one thing our full attention. Even just one conversation. I caught myself in this trap while listening. There's something poetically ironic about listening to a book about distraction on 2x speed while scrolling, until the book made me slow down to 1.5x and put my phone face down. I also caught myself texting while talking, skimming my thoughts before speaking them loud. Since the book, I made concrete changes in my life, like deleting social media apps, trying to do only one thing at a time, and even put a daily screen time tracker on my home screen to limit my phone time. I even looked up at a team meeting and actually participated in a conversation I would have previously tuned out. That's the kind of read-yourself-caught moment that separates a good book from a genuinely transformative one. The part about our older generations slowly losing their storytelling audiences, and our younger ones losing the muscle for empathy, stayed with me in a way I didn't expect.
What makes this book special isn't just the critique of tech, but how deeply humane it is. Turkle doesn't say "throw away your phone", but rather urges us to remember what makes us human. Her call to "reclaim conversation" feels less like an advice, and more like a reclamation of life itself. This book didn't just change the way I think. It changed what I did the next day. That's rare.
Would I recommend it? If you've ever caught yourself texting someone in the same room, avoiding a phone call because a text feels easier to control, or scrolling through your phone while someone you love is talking, this one's for you. Kirsten Potter's narration gives it an intimacy that matches the subject matter perfectly. This is one of those rare non-fiction reads that doesn't just shift your perspective, but also changes your habits. It's profound, practical, and personal all at once.
š§ Listened in audio š¢ Narrated by Kirsten Potten ā± Duration: 13 hours š·ļø Publisher: Books on Tape / Penguin Press š Published: October 6, 2015 š Genre: Non-Fiction
Sherry Turkle isn't anti-technology. She's pro-human, and that distinction matters. The book holds up a mirror on how our devices are quietly taking over our lives. It asks you to look at what you're trading away every time you reach for the phone mid-conversation. Spoiler: A lot!! Empathy. Presence. Your own inner monologue. The stories are rich with actual research, from homes, schools, and offices. Listening to this book made me aware of how often I reached for my phone mid-conversation or filled quiet moments with scrolling. Having a one-year old niece, I started thinking hard about the example I'm setting for her. I don't want her memories of me to be of someone always half-present, thumb hovering over a screen.
What hit me the hardest was the part about multitasking, specifically about how the expectation to multitask has gotten so deep into our bones that we're now incapable of living one thing our full attention. Even just one conversation. I caught myself in this trap while listening. There's something poetically ironic about listening to a book about distraction on 2x speed while scrolling, until the book made me slow down to 1.5x and put my phone face down. I also caught myself texting while talking, skimming my thoughts before speaking them loud. Since the book, I made concrete changes in my life, like deleting social media apps, trying to do only one thing at a time, and even put a daily screen time tracker on my home screen to limit my phone time. I even looked up at a team meeting and actually participated in a conversation I would have previously tuned out. That's the kind of read-yourself-caught moment that separates a good book from a genuinely transformative one. The part about our older generations slowly losing their storytelling audiences, and our younger ones losing the muscle for empathy, stayed with me in a way I didn't expect.
What makes this book special isn't just the critique of tech, but how deeply humane it is. Turkle doesn't say "throw away your phone", but rather urges us to remember what makes us human. Her call to "reclaim conversation" feels less like an advice, and more like a reclamation of life itself. This book didn't just change the way I think. It changed what I did the next day. That's rare.
Would I recommend it? If you've ever caught yourself texting someone in the same room, avoiding a phone call because a text feels easier to control, or scrolling through your phone while someone you love is talking, this one's for you. Kirsten Potter's narration gives it an intimacy that matches the subject matter perfectly. This is one of those rare non-fiction reads that doesn't just shift your perspective, but also changes your habits. It's profound, practical, and personal all at once.