“The conclusion shes arrived at while researching her new book is not, technically, that were not talking to each other. Were talking all the time, in person as well as in texts, in e-mails, over the phone, on Facebook and Twitter. The world is more talkative now, in many ways, than its ever been. The problem, Turkle argues, is that all of this talk can come at the expense of conversation. Were talking at each other rather than with each other.
“Conversations, as they tend to play out in person, are messyfull of pauses and interruptions and topic changes and assorted awkwardness. But the messiness is what allows for true exchange. It gives participants the timeand, just as important, the permissionto think and react and glean insights. ‘You cant always tell, in a conversation, when the interesting bit is going to come,’ Turkle says. ‘Its like dancing: slow, slow, quick-quick, slow. You know? It seems boring, but all of a sudden theres something, and whoa.’”
