Wesch VS Turkle

Soooooooooooo I really didn’t like Turkle’s talk, “Connected But Alone”.  I found it to be oppositional in scope, scale and tone from Wesch’s “Crisis of Significance.” Here’s why! 

Scope

Both folks present an essential argument about disconnection. Turkle defines this as a disconnection from the messy realities of human conversation. Wesch defines his as a disconnection from significance and meaning.  While I believe there is a relationship between both forms of disconnection, it is not, however, a chicken/egg scenario. The root cause of Turkle’s disconnection is the one that Wesch defines. His “Crisis of Significance” fuels social disconnection. It's an argument that goes deeper. 

Scale

Now that we have the problem identified, let’s look at the scale that each thinker tackles. Wesch identifies these problems as structural. He correlates institutional fiscal decisions, examples of systemic educator ambivalence and even classroom layout to the disconnection from meaning he observes. Turkle, on the other head, places her responsibility on the individual’s use of technology. While she may talk about broad social conditions and internet developments that have contributed to her crisis, she remains focused on the the user. She barely pays lip service to the myriad of systemic factors that keep our eyes turned to the screen, or the many other contributing factors like ability, neurotypicality, mental health, generational culture, that might result in a preference text-based communication. She’s blaming the victim by critiquing our alleged indulgence, not the predation of those with power who benefit from our alienation and fixation.

Tone

Once Wesch has identified the scope and scale of his disconnection, he asks himself “how can I change this?”. Then……he does it! He pushes against the structures that he identifies as contributing to disconnection. He radically shifts his teaching practice. He then shares his thinking with other educators, so we, too, can experiment with this new approach if we wish. This is regenerative action which is truly a form of healing.  Conversely, though Turkle’s entire talk, I kept expecting her to get to the solution. Surely, Lesley wouldn’t assign us a video of a person just complaining! But while the vast majority of her speech was dedicated to identifying and reiterating the complexity of the problem, all she offered was an empty sentence or two about using our devices less and reflecting more.  This is a deeply cynical perspective that is steeped in judgement, not healing.