Bookplanet: computers and us (will we one day be as one?)

The Second Self
Computers and the Human Spirit: Twentieth Anniversary Edition
by Sherry Turkle
Review by Martine Rouleau (from Metapsychology)

Very few and far between are the people who can still remember a life without computers. We now use computer technology without a thought as to the way in which the machine functions, and we even frequently refer to human behaviour in terms of computational metaphors. Although when Sherry Turkle published the first edition of The Second Self , just over twenty years ago, things were actually quite different. The Second Self is a ground-breaking exploration of the role of the computer in our lives at a time when the personal computer was just an emerging trend, accessible to a rather limited group of people. Turkle was one of the few researchers to take interest in the ways in which computers can impact on our psychological development and our relationships to others. Taking cues from Piaget, Levy-Strauss, Freud, Hume and Rogers she conducted interviews and observations with children, new and experienced users of computer technology in order to determine how the machines, and the use we make of them, might affect our being in the world.

A very thorough and ambitious study, The Second Self still relied on a number of predictions that couldn 't possibly have taken into account how fast the technology would evolve and spread. Indeed, the author 's belief that teaching programming to children would allow them to build identity and self-esteem more or less fell through as knowledge of programming is now optional, if not entirely superfluous, when it comes to using most computers. Actually, much of her argument according to which computers could have a positive impact on our lives on the basis of our having a measure of control over them, as a tool, that could extend into developing a sense of control in the wider world now seems rather quaint. Indeed, the wonderful world of I.T. as envisioned by Turkle was, in 1984, one of transparency in which all users had a knowledge of the machine 's functions and capabilities and were able to use them in order to palliate to their own weaknesses. Reading The Second Self now we are reminded that only twenty years ago all instructions had to be typed in, programmed down to the last bracket. There were no user friendly interfaces, replete with icons on which we could just click in order for a line of code, the details of which we ignore, to be applied.

Although some people still have programming knowledge, their work focuses more and more on creating functions and programs so others don 't need to know how to use code. Transparency is now in the hands of an elite group of people who can consecrate their entire professional lives to following the development of a technology that evolves at unprecedented speed, the likes of which a dabbler couldn 't possibly keep up with. Turkle had foreseen computer technology as a cognitive experience, an ultimate heuristic tool the use of which could help the development of identity and self-esteem, as well as social processes and political views. But, for her vision to have evolved it would have been necessary for the processes behind the use of the machines to still be at the forefront of our activities, yet computers have gradually made the processes more and more invisible. By doing so, their status has slipped from that of a tool -- an extension of their users, according to Marxist thought -- to that of a machine which imposes its rules and rhythms to its users.

In spite of this somewhat shaky position, which she has had the opportunity to revisit in other publications as well as in the new introduction written for the special edition, the psychological and sociological angle of Turkle 's study remains rather unique, and its validity can hardly be dismissed. Hence, the pertinence of a twentieth-century edition that allows the author to revise technological inaccuracies and to further her reflection on the impact of computing on our daily lives cannot be denied. This edition also boasts a rather intriguing epilogue, which centres on artificial intelligence. More care to the impact of Internet might have been of great interest, especially when it comes to the ways in which the World Wide Web has redefined our idea of communication as well as our perception of the self and others; yet her foray into artificial intelligence has the seeds of what could be an upcoming book. Indeed, Turkle introduces research on our emotional response to robots that could lead to great metaphysical and ethical issues. In short what this book demonstrates is that more research, in social science, needs to be done in order to better understand the impact that technology, and the uses we make of it, has on our lives.

(Martine Rouleau is Tate Fellow at the London Consortium -- Birkbeck College, University of London -- where she is currently a PhD candidate. She obtained a Masters in Communication from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2002)