Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips

“Our future will likely be even more tech focused than the present. We can’t control all the tech products that come at us, but we should assert some agency in how they affect our lives.” – Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips, The Future of Feeling

This book addresses an important topic: how to build empathy in the use of our technology tools. One needs to look no further than strings of increasingly incendiary comments on social media forums to obtain evidence of the problem. The author has investigated the various ways technology is being used to foster empathy, such as Virtual Reality, Apps, Bots, Games, and Artificial Intelligence. This book outlines many options, along with advantages and potential abuses.

The author presents the research results of others in a coherent manner. I think it requires a specific interest in the subject to fully engage in the material. It could have used additional focus on building interpersonal skills via face-to-face interactions, listening to understand the other person’s point of view, asking non-inflammatory questions to find out more, and transferring those skills to social media. I value the research results presented and feel it was worth my time reading it.
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Did not finish at about 50%. I mostly picked this up from the Amazon Prime selection.

There are some good points in there, that we could use more empathy in the world and that it’s hard to find in an increasingly digital world. But those good points get repeated over and over far more than I cared to read about them.

There’s an interesting section about VR (which I look forward to and agree it may just help with the empathy thing), but again far too long.

And finally, I’m not sure what the author’s credentials are to speak on the subject. They might just be an expert in the field, but it doesn’t really come across that way. Most of the examples given are anecdotal or studies that feel ‘weak’ to me. So it goes.

Perhaps I need more empathy for the author. It’s hard to put yourself out there with a book like this, especially in the non-fiction space.… (more)

Technology – especially social media – has made our communication more accessible over the last ten years. But has it enhanced the quality of our conversation? In this book, Phillips contends that empathy has lost out in the transition to digital technology. She cites events like the 2016 US election as proof of how we are unable to have a civilized conversation in the digital world.

Thus far (in the first couple chapters in the book), I followed Phillips. However, as she went on in the book, she seemingly did not analyze new material deeply enough. She mainly dove deeply into thinking about Virtual Reality (VR) devices. She contends that, if done right, they can make us more empathetic as they allow us to see what it feels like to be in another’s virtual shoes. While not holding a prejudice against VR, I still am skeptical that they serve as a potential panacea for our communication woes.

Through Phillips’ reports, I am encouraged that Silicon Valley, the starting point of so many of our technologies, is aware that empathy is in short supply in our world. However, call me old fashioned, but more technology might not be the solution for our human woes. Perhaps we should simply talk to each other more… face to face. This is what I try to do in my technology job – to have direct conversations as much as possible. Why do we need to try to develop expensive solutions when simple ones suffice?

Here, Phillips lost me. I wish she had more ideas to make our conversation interesting, along traditional lines. VR just doesn’t cut the cheese for me, even if it is virtual cheese. I prefer engaging in real conversation over a cup of coffee or in a faith community. Do we need our public square to be virtual, too, or are we just missing out on the real life that’s going on around us? Must Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram be the only answer for every one of our woes? Phillips needed to tell me more about these questions. Instead, winding out her exploration, she seemed to hide herself behind technology when I needed to see her common humanity.… (more)