Left to Our Own Devices Lib/E: Outsmarting Smart Technology to Reclaim Our Relationships, Health, and Focus

We have been warned about the psychological perils of technology: distraction, difficulty empathizing, and loss of the ability (or desire) to carry on a conversation. But our devices and data are woven into our lives. We can't simply reject them. Instead, Margaret Morris argues, we need to adapt technology creatively to our needs and values. In Left to Our Own Devices, Morris offers examples of individuals applying technologies in unexpected ways--uses that go beyond those intended by developers and designers. Morris examines these kinds of personalized life hacks, chronicling the ways that people have adapted technology to strengthen social connection, enhance well-being, and affirm identity. She describes how a couple used smart lights to work through conflict; how a woman persuaded herself to eat healthier foods when her photographs of salads garnered likes on social media; and how a trans woman celebrated her transition with selfies. These and the many other "off-label" adaptations described by Morris, cast technology not just as a temptation that we struggle to resist but as a potential ally as we try to take care of ourselves and others. The stories Morris tells invite us to be more intentional and creative when left to our own devices.

About the Author :
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children's fiction. AudioFile magazine says, "Marguerite Gavin...has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion." Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT. She is frequently interviewed in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on such media outlets as CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and NPR. A licensed clinical psychologist, Turkle received a joint doctorate in sociology and personality psychology from Harvard and is the author of several books, including Psychoanalytic Politics, The Second Self, Life on the Screen, and Simulation and Its Discontents. She lives in Boston. Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT. She is frequently interviewed in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on such media outlets as CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and NPR. A licensed clinical psychologist, Turkle received a joint doctorate in sociology and personality psychology from Harvard and is the author of several books, including Psychoanalytic Politics, The Second Self, Life on the Screen, and Simulation and Its Discontents. She lives in Boston. Margaret E. Morris is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and creator of technologies to support well-being. A Senior Research Scientist at Intel from 2002 to 2016, she now conducts user experience research at Amazon and is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington.