Turkle, however, believes the infatuation with technology will lessen, and people will be better able to balance the real and the virtual parts of their lives
( ... )
Re: ah .. hmmm ....octi_stripeJune 20 2006, 15:08:37 UTC
Sherry Turkle's book should be easy to find on Amazon. While a lot of her work is interesting, I'm similarly skeptical of her conclusions. She imagines humanity moving towards a techno-utopia, suggesting that technological advances will solve a lot of problems, which may be true, but she doesn't acknowledge that with that change, there are likely to be problems we can't account for right now.
Re: ah .. hmmm ....tenebrosityJune 20 2006, 17:40:23 UTC
i know i read some turkle during my masters in 2000, would it have been the same book? for some reason it sounded more up-to-date. if it is the same, i will go dig it out from moving boxes ;)
I love how they assume that the kids listening to their iPods or talking with their friends while working are doing it because they 'have different social mores' and not because they're working shitty concession jobs that they have no respect for.
Re: Perhaps that's the point completely...spaceoperadivaJune 20 2006, 14:47:59 UTC
If they're paying me, I'll behave according to their standards. If I think their standards are ridiculous, I'll go find another shitty job whose culture is more to my liking. But I respect *myself* more than to act like a tool when someone's hired me to do something. The ipod listening while working concessions thing bewilders me though. If you're doing your job and can still clearly hear the customers, who cares?
Re: Perhaps that's the point completely...malkin767June 20 2006, 14:53:24 UTC
Because even if you can still pay the same amount of attention the the customers (and personally, I'd be hard pressed to believe that) it gives the appearance of having other priorities. It's disrespectful.
Someone once showed up to view a rental house we were living in and moving out of in a ratty oversized sleepshirt and fuzzy slippers with her hair unbrushed. The landlady, who had lovely, well-taken care of property was not impressed. I don't get how people who do things like that and also the Vassar candidate don't understand why they get passed over for behaving this way. If you don't care enough about your own self to put on clothes before you go out in public, why should the landlady trust you to take reasonably good care of her property? If you can't be bothered to dry your hair before showing up to an important college interview, why should the interviewer think that you're going to take college or their culture seriously?
Some of the complaints bewilder me though. The changing your clothes in the street-- I wouldn't, but as long as you're not showing any parts above PG-13, who cares? And as long as you're doing your job, who cares if you're wearing an ipod when you work concessions?
See, and I would consider the iPod while wearing concessions the most flagrant of those social faux-pas, because you're showing disrespect both to the customer and to your employer. The wet hair... well, maybe her hair looked better wet than it would have blow-dried and frizzy (mine does). As for changing clothes in the street, who cares, as long as she's not flashing people?
Wet says "I didn't care enough about this interview to finish my hair". Mind you, I'm not one of those people who spends more than 10 minutes at a time on my hair but there are anti-frizz products and the like. But I do notice that people younger than me seem to not care about their personal appearance or hygiene as much, or they're way over on the other side with 50 piercings in their face and their hair done up into devil horns, complaining that it's not fair that little kids are scared of them. :)
I've done a lot of customer service and I wouldn't wear any kind of headphones/earbuds/etc. because I just wouldn't be able to hear people over them no matter how low I had the volume. But when I see them, it doesn't disturb me as long as they get me my coke and milk duds in a timely manner.
Frankly, I worry the opposite about the tech factor: it's so easy to be unkind to another person on the internet that I wonder if it will become easier in face-to-face life, too.
I could see how technology has a little to do with it, though I think it's kind of odd to say that technology alone is responsible for the cultural changes in our society... But there is definately what seems to be a generation gap in social norms and what constitutes "respectful/on the job" behavior.
could see how technology has a little to do with it, though I think it's kind of odd to say that technology alone is responsible for the cultural changes in our society...
Perhaps now that email, myspace and AIM have taken over a lot of their social outlets, kids are not spending time being socialized in public like previous generations. They have to be taught or see models or have expereince with groups to learn how to act in them.
Comments 53
Reply
thanks!
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Some of the complaints bewilder me though. The changing your clothes in the street-- I wouldn't, but as long as you're not showing any parts above PG-13, who cares? And as long as you're doing your job, who cares if you're wearing an ipod when you work concessions?
Reply
Reply
I've done a lot of customer service and I wouldn't wear any kind of headphones/earbuds/etc. because I just wouldn't be able to hear people over them no matter how low I had the volume. But when I see them, it doesn't disturb me as long as they get me my coke and milk duds in a timely manner.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Perhaps now that email, myspace and AIM have taken over a lot of their social outlets, kids are not spending time being socialized in public like previous generations. They have to be taught or see models or have expereince with groups to learn how to act in them.
Reply
Leave a comment