I managed to get in to Boston for a couple of hours last Saturday (October 15) for the annual Boston Book Festival and attended a couple of good sessions.
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| Boston Book Festival tents in Copley Square, Boston -- HP Pre2 Photo |
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| Boston Book Festival tents in Copley Square, Boston -- HP Pre2 Photo |
Alone Together
This was a late morning presentation, panel discussion and audience Q&A session in the basement-level Dorothy Quincy Suite of the old John Hancock Building (now known as the Back Bay Events Center).
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| Alone Together panel, Dorothy Quincy Suite of the BBEC -- HP Pre2 Photo |
Author Sherry Turkle's brief remarks about her latest book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other were the springboard for a lively discussion moderated by Andrew McAfee that also included panelists Ethan Gilsdorf and Sue Hallowell.
Hallowell came from the direction of being a psychologist who works with couples and families struggling to find real communication in a gadget-filled, "always on" world.
Davis Sq., Somerville-area resident Gilsdorf approached the discussion as someone who maintains that gaming geeks are not necessarily as isolated and alone as we might think.
Turkle, in response to a question from the audience, explained how, since her first book about social networking 15 years ago, she has evolved from an internet optimist to someone concerned about the ability to always be connected. Back then, the idea was that you participated in the online world for a certain period of time during your day and then went back to the real world. Now, we can be -- and as many are -- connected to the internet world constantly on the devices we have at home, at work, in our cars, and in our pockets. Something has been lost in our lives by this constant ability to remove yourself from the real world.
Frontiers of Science
Boston's Christopher Lydon moderated this afternoon session held in the sanctuary of Copley Square's historic Trinity Church.
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| Frontiers of Science at Trinity Church -- HP Pre2 Photo |
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| Frontiers of Science at Trinity Church -- HP Pre2 Photo |
The presenter/panelists were...
Greenblatt told of how a 2100+ year-old poem, rediscovered and published in the 1500's, spoke of how it was already believed back then that the matter all around us was composed of atoms.
Randall followed with a brief spiel about the sub-atomic scale of her scientific work.
Mukherjee presented in the third spot and captivated the audience with a tremendous story of how the understanding of "what cancer is" has changed over the years with research and study.
The current view, based on how we now know genes operate, is that cancer is an unpreventable part of us. Our environment and our behavior may help "activate" cancers, but they do not cause it. Cancer is hard-wired in our genes, just like the info hard-wired in our genes to, say, heal a cut on our hand.
I'm looking forward to next year's festival!!
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