Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in an Age of Machines (Paperback)

In Devices of the Soul, Steve Talbott challenges readers to critically examine society's ever-increasing detachment from its physical surroundings and reflect on its growing dependence on techno-wizardry. Why? In an era when 65 percent of American consumers spend more time with their PCs than with their loved ones, according to a recent study, Talbott insists something vital is slipping away--our Selves, the human spirit from which technology stems.

"Self-forgetfulness is the reigning temptation of the technological era. This is why we so readily give our assent to the absurd proposition that a computer can add two plus two, despite the obvious fact that it can do nothing of the sort-not if we have in mind anything remotely resembling what we do when we add numbers," writes Talbott. "In the computer's case, the mechanics of addition involve no motivation, no consciousness of the task, no mobilization of the will, no metabolic activity, no imagination. And its performance brings neither the satisfaction of accomplishment nor the strengthening of practical skills and cognitive capacities." 

"Self-forgetfulness is the reigning temptation of the technological era. This is why we so readily give our assent to the absurd proposition that a computer can add two plus two, despite the obvious fact that it can do nothing of the sort--not if we have in mind anything remotely resembling what we do when we add numbers. In the computer's case, the mechanics of addition involve no motivation, no consciousness of the task, no mobilization of the will, no metabolic activity, no imagination. And its performance brings neither the satisfaction of accomplishment nor the strengthening of practical skills and cognitive capacities."

In this insightful book, author Steve Talbott, software programmer and technical writer turned researcher and editor for The Nature Institute, challenges us to step back and take an objective look at the technology driving our lives. At a time when 65 percent of American consumers spend more time with their PCs than they do with their significant others, according to a recent study, Talbott illustrates that we're forgetting one important thing--our Selves, the human spirit from which technology stems.

Whether we're surrendering intimate details to yet another database, eschewing our physical communities for online social networks, or calculating our net worth, we freely give our power over to technology until, he says, "we arrive at a computer's-eye view of the entire world of industry, commerce, and society at large...an ever more closely woven web of programmed logic."

Digital technology certainly makes us more efficient. But when efficiency is the only goal, we have no way to know whether we're going in the right or wrong direction. Businesses replace guiding vision with a spreadsheet's bottom line. Schoolteachers are replaced by the computer's dataflow. Indigenous peoples give up traditional skills for the dazzle and ease of new gadgets. Even the Pentagon's zeal to replace "boots on the ground" with technology has led to the mess in Iraq. And on it goes.

The ultimate danger is that, in our willingness to adapt ourselves to technology, "we will descend to the level of the computational devices we have engineered--not merely imagining ever new and more sophisticated automatons, but reducing ourselves to automatons."

To transform our situation, we need to see it in a new and unaccustomed light, and that's what Talbott provides by examining the deceiving virtues of technology--how we're killing education, socializing our machines, and mechanizing our society. Once you take this eye-opening journey, you will think more clearly about how you consume technology and how you allow it to consume you.

"Nothing is as rare or sorely needed in our tech-enchanted culture right now as intelligent criticism of technology, and Steve Talbott is exactly the critic we've been waiting for: trenchant, sophisticated, and completely original. Devices of the Soul is an urgent and important book."

--Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World

"Steve Talbott is a rare voice of clarity, humanity, and passion in a world enthralled by machines and calculation. His new book, Devices of the Soul, lays out a frightening and at the same time inspiring analysis of what computers and computer-like thinking are doing to us, our children, and the future of our planet. Talbott is no Luddite. He fully understands and appreciates the stunning power of technology for both good and evil. His cool and precise skewering of the fuzzy thinking and mindless enthusiasm of the technology true believers is tempered by his modesty, the elegance of his writing, and his abiding love for the world of nature and our capacity for communion with it. "

--Edward Miller, Former editor, Harvard Education Letter

"Those who care about the healthy and wholesome lives of children can gain much from Steve Talbott's wisdom. He examines the need to help children spend more time touching nature and real life and less touching keyboards. He eloquently questions the assumption that speeding up learning is a good thing. Is, after all, a sped-up life a well-lived life? Most importantly, he reminds all of us that technology is just one part of life and ought not to overshadow the life of self and soul."

--Joan Almon, Coordinator, Alliance for Childhood

"One of the most original and provocative writers of our time, Steve Talbott offers a rich assortment of insightful reflections on the nature of our humanity, challenging our own thinking and conventional wisdom about advances in technology."

--Dorothy E. Denning, Department of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

"Are you experiencing growing unease as computational metaphors have seized our discourse? Steve Talbott offers immediate relief. You are not losing your mind! Chapter after chapter, he shows how to draw on the powers of technology without losing your soul or breaking your heart."

--Peter Denning, Past President of ACM, Monterey, California

"Steve Talbott is a rare writer whose words can alter one's entire perception of the world. He is our most original and perceptive defender of the wholeness of life against the onslaught of mechanism. Devices of the Soul is written with Talbott's typical grace and clarity. It displays a quality hardly found anymore in our high tech culture--wisdom. "

--Lowell Monke, Associate Professor of Education, Wittenberg University

描述：在《靈魂的裝置》中，史蒂夫·塔爾博特挑戰讀者對社會與其物質環境日益疏離的現象進行批判性檢視，並反思人們對技術巫術的日益依賴。為什麼呢？根據最近的一項研究，65%的美國消費者與他們的電腦相處的時間比與親人相處的時間更長，塔爾博特堅持認為，一些重要的東西正在流失-我們的自我，技術的根源。

“自我遺忘是技術時代的主要誘惑。這就是為什麼我們如此容易同意一個荒謬的命題，即電腦可以做加法，儘管顯而易見的事實是它根本不能做到這一點-如果我們心中有任何與我們進行加法運算時相似的東西的話，”塔爾博特寫道。“在電腦的情況下，加法的機械運作不涉及動機、任務的意識、意志的調動、新陳代謝活動、想像力。它的表現既不能帶來成就感，也不能增強實踐技能和認知能力的能力。”

在這本富有洞察力的書中，作者史蒂夫·塔爾博特，一位從事軟件編程和技術寫作的研究員和編輯，挑戰我們退一步客觀地看待推動我們生活的技術。根據最近的一項研究，65%的美國消費者與他們的電腦相處的時間比與他們的伴侶相處的時間更長，塔爾博特指出，我們忘記了一個重要的事情-我們的自我，技術的根源。

無論是將私密細節交給另一個數據庫，放棄我們的實體社區轉向線上社交網絡，還是計算我們的淨值，我們自由地將我們的權力交給技術，直到“我們對整個工業、商業和社會的電腦視角...一個越來越緊密編織的程序邏輯網絡”（塔爾博特說）。

數字技術確實使我們更高效。但當效率成為唯一目標時，我們無法知道我們是朝著正確還是錯誤的方向前進。企業用電子表格的底線取代了指導性的願景。學校教師被電腦的數據流取代。原住民放棄傳統技能，轉而追求新的設備的迷人和便利。甚至五角大廈取代“地面上的靴子”以技術為導向，導致了伊拉克的混亂。這種情況還在繼續。

最終的危險是，在我們願意適應技術的過程中，“我們將降低到我們所設計的計算設備的水平-不僅僅是想像出越來越複雜的自動機，而是將自己降低到自動機的水平。”

要改變我們的處境，我們需要以一種新的、不習慣的方式看待它。