Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet
By Sherry Turkle
Review by Linda Larson
Pepperdine University Doctoral Student
As a read Turkle's book, I constantly reflected on my life long interest in reading science fiction and realized what was (please excuse the cliché) once science fiction is now science fact. Granted this is not a new idea, but it is certainly relevant to Turkle's book. Turkle has so many thought provoking ideas that during the reading, I found my mind constantly flashing backward to science fiction novels, I read, where the technology, I read about, only existed in fiction. Then my mind would flash to the present time and I realized that much of the fictional technology I read about was now a reality. Finally, my mind would flash forward to speculate what technology has in store for mankind in the future. Being an avid reader of science fiction and viewer of science fiction movies and television, I think of the advances I see in technology from a different vantage point from someone without this interest in science fiction. From my point of view, I have been reading about these ideas for years and I have just been waiting for the technology to make these ideas a reality. Turkle's book provided an interesting journey into the past, present and future of what Life of the Screen is and how this is having an impact on our personal identities and the way we view the world.
My own life on the screen began in1979 when I first purchased my Apple II. I can easily identify with Turkle when she discussed her first experiences with using an early word processor. She commented in her book that the computer screen "tantalizes her with its holding power." She found it hard to turn way from the screen. She explained further that computers were an extension of us. She likened the interaction with the computer to playing a musical instrument. I agreed with her because my interaction, with the computer, is like piano lessons I took as a child. The computer can be a way of expression just like playing the piano can be a way of self-expression.
Turkle's book Life on the Screen, offered many intriguing insights into how human interaction, with the computer, has changed through the years, as the human race has interacted with the screen. "Today's high school students are more like to think of computers as fluid simulation surface for writing and game playing than as rigid machines to program. Full membership in the culture is based on not programming skill but being able to use the software out of the box."
Turkle's thought provoking book provided a plethora of ideas, but the ideas that fascinated me most were the following: The first idea evolved around the concept of examining how human beings interacted with the computer and how this interaction this has changed over the years. An interesting example of this was looking at how computer interface evolved, as Steve Jobs tried to make the Mac more "real world-like," by using the desktop metaphor. The second idea explored the complex area of artificial intelligence (AI) and Turkle's stories provide many useful insights into the area of (AI). The third idea examined the concept of using the computer to imitate real life. Turkle pointed out that this could be a problem because, as humans, we could get used to the fast scene changing of media like television, video games and simulations. Then, when we are living in the real world, where changes occur at a much slower pace, this could cause some problems. In her book, she offers interesting ways to deal with this dilemma. The fourth idea I found interesting was whole section on multi-user domains (MUDs). Turkle thinks there a place in the world for both the real and the virtual. For example, she devoted an entire section of the book to the fascinating world of MUDS. Personally, I found this the most interesting section of the book. Using her experience as a lecturer and researcher, she illustrated her ideas using many anecdotes on the complexities of the human personality. She helped the reader understand both the light and dark side of life on the Internet: On the Internet, individuals can have multiple personalities, work out personal problems, and play out fictional stories all in their life on the screen. The final idea that seemed to sum it all up is a concept that Turkle offered toward the end of her book. She saw the Internet like an enormous brain that was evolving and changing, and she thinks we all are all part of the "network" called the Internet. What I wonder is what is this going to evolve into: a Borg collective or what? Time will only tell.
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