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

Description

Unexpected ways that individuals adapt technology to reclaim what matters to them, from working through conflict with smart lights to celebrating gender transition with selfies. 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. Morris, a clinical psychologist and app creator, shows how people really use technology, drawing on interviews she has conducted as well as computer science and psychology research. 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; how a trans woman celebrated her transition with selfies; and how, through augmented reality, a woman changed the way she saw her cancer and herself. 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. Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Meaning of Light Using Light to Throw Shade Present in Absence Ambient Nudges Taking Control of One’s Signals Weighty Effects of Lightweight Symbols Fight Club, without the Clubs Iron Fist in a Velvet GIF Finding Meaning in Light 2. Conversational Catalysts The Big Mouth Scale The Accidental Sleuth Words with Socially Anxious Friends The Bond of Gossip Sharing a Mood Map Emotional Rough Drafts Dating by Committee “I’m Your Stress Phone!” Anxiety Is Child’s Play Family Phone Contract Devices as Bridges 3. Meaningful Measures No Size Fits All Greens for Likes Not Counting Blood Relations The Highest Form of Flattery Family Planets Do You Know Where Your Children Are? The End of the Affair Measure for Measure 4. Remembering and Forgetting An AI Afterlife Eternal Conversations Leaning into Grief Shoebox Memories Remembering the Context Calm Alarms When Remembering Is Not Enough One Space, Two Places Imperfect Recall 5. Beyond the Hookup Bouncing Back from a Breakup Beholding the In-Between Grindr Is the New Airbnb Winning Tinder The Tinder Queen Turning the Tables Seeking Men with Faces How We Click 6. Picturing Ourselves Masking Emotional Effort An Assertive Self Appearing Interested Conveying Loss and Hope in Metaphor Selfie Defense Shedding Syllables Signing Off Our Devices, Ourselves A Self in Conversation 7. Micro Connections The Long Ride Home Uber Elevator Pitch The Company of Strangers Fountain of Youth Clean Slates Taxi Cab Confessions Beyond the Utility of the Sharing Economy 8. Therapy, Virtually Silent Hotlines Skype Stethoscope DNA-Driven Groceries Hashtag Help Beyond the Grave Chatting with Bots Chasing Social Anxiety Talking to Ourselves Thinking Out Loud Why Is My Bladder on the Coffee Table? Notes Introduction Chapter 1: The Meaning of Light Chapter 2: Conversational Catalysts Chapter 3: Meaningful Measures Chapter 4: Remembering and Forgetting Chapter 5: Beyond the Hookup Chapter 6: Picturing Ourselves Chapter 7: Micro Connections Chapter 8: Therapy, Virtually Index