Sherry Turkle - The Second Self

What does using a computer do to you? If you use computers, laptops, phones, or play video games, this episode is for you! We discuss Sherry Turkle’s seminal book "The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit" (1984) and explore what happens while you are working with a computer. We also talk about the view of AI as a "colonizing discipline", people's obsession with programming, different meanings of transparency in computing, girls in computer science, and issues around creating an inclusive computer culture. As in earlier episodes, Felienne considers tattoo-worthy quotes, and Hanna goes off course in her homework!

Mentions and references:

• Turkle, S. (2005). The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. The MIT Press.
• Turkle, S. (2022). The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir. Penguin Publishing Group.
• Turkle, S. (2015). Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Penguin Publishing Group.
• Laurel, B. (2013). Computers as Theatre. Addison-Wesley.
• Adventure (Colossal Cave Adventure), an interactive text adventure game
• Zork, the text adventure game Felienne played as a kid
• ELIZA, the chatbot by Joseph Weizenbaum.
• David Foster Wallace unedited interview 2003, a video interview with David Foster Wallace that is briefly mentioned (the issue of being a grown-up is discussed in the video at 00:17:20)

Links:

• Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e07/
• Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e07-homework/

Audio and music credits:

• Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
• Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds
• Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com