Reclaiming Conversation (54 page)

videos of people happy to engage:
One classic sequence with Kismet is “Kismet and Rich,” MIT AI video, http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/sociable/movies/kismet-and-rich.mov.

there will be “empathy apps” to teach compassion and consideration:
See, for example, the work of Richard J. Davidson of the University of Wisconsin, who, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
is developing handheld games to teach a range of skills, from attention to empathy. For the announcement of this work, see Jill Sakai, “Educational Games to Train Middle Schoolers' Attention, Empathy,”
University of Wisconsin-Madison News
, May 21, 2012, http://www.news.wisc.edu/20704. On the work of the center, see http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/cihmProjMeditation.html. Mindfulness training is a large part of the curriculum.

The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.

acting out,
97
–98

addiction,
215
–16

multitasking and,
215

to phones,
32
,
37
–38,
113
,
126

misuse of phrase “internet addiction” and,
126
,
215
–216

Addison, Joseph,
333

advertising:

to present Siri as a conversational partner,
339
–340

to present family dinner as a place for technology,
47
–48,

affective, meaning of word,
51

affective computing,
51

Agarwal, Anant,
211

algorithmic (quantified) self,
81
,
87
,
88
,
90
–93,
99
,
317

advertising and,
307
,
308

algorithms:

advice about dating and,
355

Internet tracking and,
307
,
308
,
313
,
328
–29

alone,
see
solitude

Alone Together
(Sherry Turkle),
17

ALS Foundation,
297

“Ancient Greek Hero, The” (name of Harvard MOOC),
229
,
233

anthropologists and sociologists (conversation working in the ethnographic tradition),
8

anxiety,
28
,
38
,
39

academic,
138

about being alone with thoughts,
10
,
287
–88

about being left out,
83

about conversation,
44
–45

about disconnection,
67
–68,
74
,
75
,
286

about missing out,
145
,
145
–47

social,
138
,
141
–42

about speaking in class,
238
–40

apologies:

by email,
32
,
265
,
267

face-to-face,
32
–35,
265
,
267

by text,
32
–33

in workplace,
15
,
33
–34,
267

Apple,
306

Siri,
51
,
337
,
346
–47,
348
,
357

Apple Store,
174
,
175

apps,
73
,
74
,
126
,
306

fantasies of a “friction-free” life and,
179
–80

view of world as,
323
–24

Arendt, Hannah,
65

arguments,
see
disagreements

artificial intelligence,
173
,
338
,
340
–41

vulnerability to,
341
–44,
347
,
348
,
358

see also
machines; robots

artificial speech,
342

Asperger's syndrome,
108
,
161

Atlantic,
261

attachment,
36
,
166
,
171
,
180
,
356

brain and,
170

attention,
26
,
30
,
38
,
42
,
97
,
140
,
147
,
172
,
264
,
321

brain and,
220
,
221

in class,
214

continuous partial,
30

deep,
217
,
219
,
221

divided,
154

in friendships,
150
,
154
,
160

hyper,
217
–21,
222
,
227

in meetings,
255
,
257
–260,
275

multitasking and, see multitasking

unitasking and, see unitasking

attentional pluralism,
219

Austen, Jane,
69

avatars,
6
,
84
,
131

backchanneling, in classrooms and meetings,
218

behavioral economics,
246

behavioral therapy (cognitive),
94
,
95

Bentham, Jeremy,
305

Bettelheim, Bruno,
236
–37

BlackBerrys,
260
,
271

blogging,
309
–10

Bloom, Allan,
307

boredom,
4
,
23
,
26
,
36
,
38
–40,
56
,
62
,
66
,
68
,
73
,
74
,
77
,
151
,
214
,
322
–23,
357

challenge of,
218
–19

in classroom,
214
,
215
,
218
–19,
238
,
242

negotiating,
70
–72

willingness to shock oneself to avoid,
10

see also
quiet moments and silence

Born Digital
(John Palfrey and Urs Gasser),
222

Boston Consulting Group (BCG),
287

brain,
69
,
125
,
318

attention and,
220
,
221

emotional processing in,
41
,
318

eye contact,
170

mirror neurons in,
342

multitasking and,
213
,
220
,
321

plasticity of,
221

solitude and,
61
,
62

“use it or lose it” quality of,
110

brainstorming, versus the greater productivity of people thinking creatively on their own,
258

breakfast meetings as facilitators of conversation,
272
–74,
283

breast-feeding while texting,
236
–37,
326

browsers, privacy and,
304
,
312
,
313

bubble, information,
50
,
307

Bucciarelli, Louis,
233

bullying,
26
,
106
,
119
,
165
–166

Bush, Vannevar,
76
,
320

business,
see
work, workplace; work meetings

Cain, Susan,
60
–61,
67

call centers, increased productivity if employees have occasions to talk together,
252

caring, meaning of word,
52

“caring machines,”
52
,
361

Carr, Nicholas,
110
,
225

Carson, Rachel,
4

catastrophe culture,
299
–301

cell phones,
see
phones

chairs, as a metaphor for thinking about conversation, inspired by Henry David Thoreau,
10
–11,
46
,
317
,
337

first (for solitude and self-reflection),
10
–11,
16
,
46
–47,
235
–36

second (for friends, family, and romantic partners),
10
–11,
16
,
47
,
235
–36

third (for social world),
10
–11,
14
,
16
,
48
,
235
–36

fourth (for machines),
16
–17,
51
–53,
337
,
338
,
359

chat, online,
34
,
35
–36

arguments and,
103
,
105
,
195

student collaboration and,
244
–45

Chatroulette,
184

child-parent relationships,
see
parents and children

choice,

dating and,
180
,
182
,
183
–85

infinite,
145
–147,
182
,
183
,
184

paradox of,
182

civil rights movement,
297
–98

importance of “strong ties” to,
298

Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in,
298

C.K., Louis,
59
–60,
61
,
66
,
124
–25

classrooms,
14
,
48
-49,
138
,
211
–48

actors as potential teachers in online courses,
238

anonymous polling and comments in,
239
–40,
242
,
243

anxiety about speaking in,
238
–40

blended or flipped,
228
,
231
,
242

boredom in,
214
,
215
,
218
–19,
238
,
242

clickers, use of in,
239
–40,
242

defending ideas in real time in,
240
–41,
242

devices in,
6
,
14
–15,
72
,
121
,
164
–65,
212
–14,
215
–17,
225
–27

discussions in,
8
,
48
,
121
,
212
,
223
–24,
240
–41,
242

hyper attention and,
217
–21,
222

lectures in,
73
,
215
,
228
,
231
,
232
,
234
–35,
236
,
237
–38,
241
,
242

multitasking in,
213
–17

non-cognitive skills and,
230

no-phone rules in,
121
,
213
–14

note taking in,
225
–27

technology and,
232
–33,
242
–44

texting in,
164
–65,
212
–14,
217
,
243

Twitter and,
242
–43

see also
education; schools, schoolchildren

climate change, talking about,
16
,
300
,
310
,
311

cockpit analogy,
see
pilot in cockpit analogy

Coding War Games,
67

coffeehouses, political virtues of,
332
–33

Colbert, Stephen,
19
,
34

collaboration,
46
–47,
48
,
252
–53,
255
,
271
,
287

illusion of,
258

intimacy and,
246

multitasking and,
258
–59

students and,
244
–45

see also
work meetings

college students,
31
,
42
,
53
–54,
137
–38,
143
,
259

collaboration among,
244
–45

and communicating with faculty,
54
,
230
,
247
–48,
331

decline in empathy in,
21
,
170
–71

educational videos and,
220
–21

face-to-face meetings of,
245

and value of conversations,
246
–47

Columbia University,
230

commoditization, (of professional work)
288
–89

community,
49
,
112
,
173
,
183

family and,
114

computer games,
6
–7,
63
–64,
293
,
351
–54,
360

avatars in,
6
,
84

computer culture, transition from psychoanalytic culture to,
89

computer programmers,
67
,
277
–78

computers:

programs for that disenable WiFi,
215

in classrooms,
6
,
14
–15,
72
,
164
–65,
212
,
215
–17,
225
–27

concentration,
164

see also
focus and attention

conflict,
52
–53

in families,
29
,
103
,
105
,
121
,
126
–31,
169

learning from moments of,
325

conformity:

and the online life,
305
–307,
322

and crowdsourcing,
310

and other-direction,
224

connection:

constant,
46
,
67
,
147
–48,
167
,
212

disconnection anxiety and,
67
–68,
74
,
75
,
286

interruption as,
37
,
125

moving from conversation to,
21
–22,
27
,
29

short bits of,
34
–35

consolation and support, found in texts and electronic messages,
155
–57
172

Constitution (U.S.),
328

controversial opinions, reticence to have them,
311
,
322
,
327