Turkle poses a rhetorical question: "Some tell me that conversation seems like 'hard work,' with many invitations, often treacherous, to imperfection, loss of control, and boredom.Why are these worth fighting for?" [emphasis added] Based on your reading so far, what is the answer to that question?

Flight from Conversation

1. Turkle worries about the changing meaning of words like "intelligence" and 'affective.' "A lot is at stake in these words," she says (p.52). What is at stake and why should leaders care?

Solitude

1. "We have embarked on a giant experiment in which our children are the human subjects" (p.62). Turkle's statement here seems to suggest that the responsibility for these problems lies primarily with us. What are your thoughts?

Self-Reflection

1. A lot of writing on leadership (perhaps even some in this program) teaches leaders how to find, gather, interpret, and use data and various metrics when they are making their decisions. There is no doubt that having good information to go on is a good thing, but Turkle also worries that algorithms can end up replacing true self-reflection (p.94). How can we combat that tendency?

Family

1. One of the premises of this class, "Leadership in Social Context," is that good leadership needs to take into consideration thewholecontext in which persons live, work, and play, and that includes family life. If that's true, then organizational leadership begins at home. How can we avoid the "interruptions [that] enable us to avoid difficult feelings and awkward moments" (p.125)? And why should we? "Should a successful family produce children who are comfortable with 'hot' emotions" asks Turkle (p.127). Is it unreasonable to be expected to "be enough in control of our feelings to listen to another person" in real time (p.129)? And if people aren't learning this at home, how should be best teach them when they arrive at work?

Friendship

1. "Behind technological fantasies there is so often a deep sadness that human beings have simply not gotten it right and technology will help us do better" (p.170). Do you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

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Turkles questions and concerns revolve around the impact of technology on various aspects of human interaction and relationships Here are some possibl... View the full answer