A lot of you might shy away from watching this, feeling that it's another talk from some self help guru that's going to make you uncomfortable. Just know that this woman is a major heavyweight, and that her muses get backed up by volumes of mind-numbing research before she speaks. You won't come away from this with a temporary high, you'll get tools to make you a better person. Don't miss out.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by kceaton1.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'TED, TEDtalk, Sherry, Turkle, Connected, alone, together, media, mobile, social, device' to 'TED, TEDtalk, Sherry Turkle, Connected, alone, together, media, mobile, social, device' - edited by xxovercastxx

*interesting

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by dystopianfuturetoday.

"The illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship" ... And this is bad because?

"We turn to technology to help us feel connected in ways we can comfortably control" ... You say it like its a bad thing.

"Being alone feels like a problem that needs to be solved" ... Actually no, I'm fine with alone. It is other people that need stuff that feels like a problem that needs to be solved.

"Constant connection is changing the way people think of themselves" ... Yep that's the way it has always been. I bet there was someone like her when the telephone was invented, and when the radio was invented, and when the TV was invented. The world is changing, and I am cool with it.

And then she ends the talk, talking about learning to be alone with ourselves. Hmm, as someone who never texts, never bring a cellphone anywhere, only talks to people at work because that is what I am paid to do, and does not even have a twitter account, I guess she wasn't talking to me.