PDF Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books
PDF Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books
Download As PDF : Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books
We Have Arrived at the Information Age -- But Not in Person
E-mail, voice mail, fax machines, beepers. Technology is overwhelming us with information, driving out the sound of human voices. We have gained the advantage of nearly constant interaction with others but make only partial connections; in the process, we are losing something precious. In this witty and intelligent book, prominent psycholinguist John Locke takes a hard look at what we are really missing as intimate forms of self-expression vanish.
Talking is the way we build and maintain relationships. Talking is the way that we learn to trust one another. But we now spend our days exchanging electronic factoids, leaving us little time to "just talk." Without intimate conversation, we can't really know others well enough to trust them or work with them harmoniously. We even lose track of our own selves -- our sense of humor, our own particular way of looking at things. We become lonely.
Keenly perceptive and though-provoking, Why We Don't Talk to Each Other Anymore is a provocative look at how we live with -- and without -- one another.
PDF Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books
"This is one of the most fearless yet frightening technological ages we are privledged to live in. We can zap off an e-mail to Grandma with cute lil pix attached--and not have to hear her inquiring personal curiosities. We can leave a message on a business colleagues text pager--without explaining why we cannot make that 5 pm meeting. Our children can hide behind a pixeled monitor and act like they are tough teens with their verbage of garbage--and feel they can do the same amongst society.
This amazing book delves into a subject which is coming to the forefront. Just what are we losing by being so advanced in communications? Alot. Rich moments of physical contact, eye contact, a closeness of the human spirit which propels us to care. Everything is becoming too cold now, impersonal. Don't get me wrong, I have a fax, computers, pagers, cell phones and use them all. I also took a hard look at myself and others who enjoy such "toys". I like taking the easy way out. And the more e-connected I am--the more I lose in communal inspiration.
Author , John Locke, explains that talking, simple talking, a la sitting on the bench in front of the old soda shoppe, pulling back a swig of an icy bottle of root beer, discussing something as simple as the weather or the school bake sale, builds and maintains relationships. Without the personal touch, we are losing sense of self. We are becoming a tunnel visoned society. Not that these wonderful inventions are not helpful or needed, but at what cost?
I was on a cruise ship a few months ago. Before we left port, I was sitiing on the aft deck, relaxing, people watching, anticipating making new acqaintances. As I looked around, I counted at least 20 people on their cell phones. I shook my head, checked my purse, I had my Nokia--turned off. Thank goodness after embarkation, those phones did not work. My gosh, people were actually forced to talk to one another! And it was fruitful to be reminded that asking questions, listening, looking into someones eyes as they bragged about this or that--was a lost pleasure, the lost art of conversation.
I agree with the contents of this interesting profile by this psycholinguist. In fact I applaud it. It's the old story, let's get back to basics. Put the world on hold & let's talk, really talk. Before we just become faceless machines to one another.
Thanks for your interest & comment votes--CDS"
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Tags : Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The De-Voicing of Society (9780684855745) John Locke Books,John Locke,Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The De-Voicing of Society,Simon Schuster,0684855747,Anthropology - General,Personality,Communication;Social aspects,Conversation,Conversation analysis - Social aspects,Conversation analysis;Social aspects.,Anthropology,Communication,Communication Studies,Conversation analysis,LANGUAGE ARTS DISCIPLINES / Communication Studies,PSYCHOLOGY / General,Psychology,Psychology / Personality,Psychology/General,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture,Social Aspects,Social Science / Anthropology / General,Social Science Sociology - General,Social Science/Popular Culture,Social Science/Sociology - General,Sociology,Sociology - General,Technology Engineering Social Aspects,Technology Engineering/Social Aspects,The self, ego, identity, personality
Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books Reviews :
Why We Don't Talk To Each Other Anymore The DeVoicing of Society John Locke Books Reviews
- Was written just before the Internet Age started, so the author's insights are especially interesting. For anyone who's wondered why there's so much less sociability.
- Great book on our culture. If you want to know about how technology has affected our daily life and the way we communicate Postman offers a great argument in this book.
- This is one of the most fearless yet frightening technological ages we are privledged to live in. We can zap off an e-mail to Grandma with cute lil pix attached--and not have to hear her inquiring personal curiosities. We can leave a message on a business colleagues text pager--without explaining why we cannot make that 5 pm meeting. Our children can hide behind a pixeled monitor and act like they are tough teens with their verbage of garbage--and feel they can do the same amongst society.
This amazing book delves into a subject which is coming to the forefront. Just what are we losing by being so advanced in communications? Alot. Rich moments of physical contact, eye contact, a closeness of the human spirit which propels us to care. Everything is becoming too cold now, impersonal. Don't get me wrong, I have a fax, computers, pagers, cell phones and use them all. I also took a hard look at myself and others who enjoy such "toys". I like taking the easy way out. And the more e-connected I am--the more I lose in communal inspiration.
Author , John Locke, explains that talking, simple talking, a la sitting on the bench in front of the old soda shoppe, pulling back a swig of an icy bottle of root beer, discussing something as simple as the weather or the school bake sale, builds and maintains relationships. Without the personal touch, we are losing sense of self. We are becoming a tunnel visoned society. Not that these wonderful inventions are not helpful or needed, but at what cost?
I was on a cruise ship a few months ago. Before we left port, I was sitiing on the aft deck, relaxing, people watching, anticipating making new acqaintances. As I looked around, I counted at least 20 people on their cell phones. I shook my head, checked my purse, I had my Nokia--turned off. Thank goodness after embarkation, those phones did not work. My gosh, people were actually forced to talk to one another! And it was fruitful to be reminded that asking questions, listening, looking into someones eyes as they bragged about this or that--was a lost pleasure, the lost art of conversation.
I agree with the contents of this interesting profile by this psycholinguist. In fact I applaud it. It's the old story, let's get back to basics. Put the world on hold let's talk, really talk. Before we just become faceless machines to one another.
Thanks for your interest comment votes--CDS - After reading this book I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. I felt like laughing because this book is a silly, superficial, and self-important tome aimed at simplistic answers to very complicated cultural issues. Like a lot of other silly books like "Bobos In Paradise", "Stiffed", and a veritable armload of other self-help books, this is a pedestrian attempt by someone who seems singularly unaware of the magnitude or meaning of the phenomena he so entertainingly describes. On the other hand, I felt like crying because he encourages simple answers to naïve people, who then breathlessly announce to the world we all just need to talk to each other to make things better. Oh, if things were only that simple!
While I have no problem with what he said, and must admit he writes both well and entertainingly, he seems to view everything around him exclusively in terms of interpersonal dynamics, which is not surprising given his background as a psycho-linguist. But to advance a thesis arguing that all we need to do to begin to effectively set aside the tortured and complicated evils of the 20th century is to "just talk to each other, really talk" is patent nonsense, and he should certainly know better. It makes little differnce whether we talk face to face or over electronic devices, most of what we say is of such little consequence and has so little to do with anything that matters that the particular technology employed is close to irrelevant. The fact that he apparently doesn't understand this, or at least does not specifically acknowledge the primary role of the virtual revolution of social and cultural changes associated with the rise of technology and technological innovation in the manifest woes that confront us, has the unfortunate consequence of misinforming and confusing people looking for simplistic answers to devilishly complex cultural realities. Sad as it is to say, we can't just kiss this booboo and make it go away. To suggest we can is just plain wrong.
Thus, getting back to basics, as another reviewer claims we need to do, is a ridiculously reductionistic oversimplification of what we need to do to rescue ourselves from the mischief of ourselves. It reminds me of Rodney King's plaintive plea asking "can't we just all get along?" Or, as Pogo once said, the enemy is us. Yet it is precisely because we are children born into and raised as natives in this schizophrenic material culture that we are singularly unable to see beyond the confines of our own quite specifically organized way of looking at, interpreting, and interacting with reality that we are now so painfully dissociated and alienated from each other. Everything within our contemporary cultural environment serves to guide us away from each other and to regard each other with suspicion, distrust, and growing hostility. In such a late stage of profound social dissolution, to suggest we can just "talk our way out of it' by being real with each other is to deny what the culture, and we as members of it, have become. It is also a dangerous delusion to suppose it is as easy as all that. Dancing down the yellow brick road just won't work. This is a silly and wrong-headed book. Avoid it.
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