The Empathy Diaries by Sherry Turkle has received praise for its insightful intertwining of personal memoir and intellectual exploration, highlighting the importance of empathy in technology and relationships. Reviewers commend Turkle's candid storytelling and thought-provoking content, although some note the narrative occasionally meanders. Overall, it’s a compelling read.

Readers who enjoy blending technology, psychology, and memoir will appreciate Sherry Turkle's The Empathy Diaries. Comparable to Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars and Rebecca Solnit's A Field Guide to Getting Lost, this book delves into the human aspects of technological interactions.

The Empathy Diaries by Sherry Turkle is a memoir intertwining her personal and academic journey, focusing on family secrets, her father's unsanctioned experiments on her, and her mother's silence to hide the truth. Turkle chronicles her career, exploring the nexus between technology and human emotion while developing her belief in empathy as a distinctive human quality at risk from unfeeling AI.

Contemplative / Informative / Emotional / Nostalgic / Melancholic

- The Empathy Diaries merges personal memoir and intellectual biography, offering readers insight into Sherry Turkle's journey as a pioneering figure in the study of technology and its impact on human relationships.
- Sherry Turkle's work has been deeply influential in the field of social studies of science and technology, and The Empathy Diaries reflects on her four decades of research, emphasizing the importance of empathy in an increasingly digital world.

**Sherry Turkle**  
A sociologist and psychologist at MIT who explores the relationship between technology and society, particularly focusing on the impact of computers and virtual spaces on human empathy and identity.

**Jacques Lacan**  
A French psychoanalyst known for his innovative teachings on Freudian theory, whose lectures and controversial ideas on psychoanalysis influence Turkle's thinking about the plurality of identities.

**Seymour Papert**  
An influential mathematician and learning theorist, co-creator of the children's programming language Logo, who worked closely with Turkle on constructivist theories of learning during their marriage and academic collaboration.

**Marvin Minsky**  
A pioneering computer scientist and artificial intelligence expert at MIT, representing a technologically driven culture with an approach to human relationships and empathy that Turkle critiques in her work.

Sherry Turkle

Adult

Autobiography / Memoir

Nonfiction

Guide

Study Guide

Before You Read

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Overview

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The Empathy Diaries Summary and Study Guide

Background

The Empathy Diaries Background

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “1948-1968”

Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 3

The Empathy Diaries Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Part 1, Chapters 4-7 

The Empathy Diaries Part 1, Chapters 4-7  Summary & Analysis

Part 2: “1968-1975”

Part 2, Chapters 8-11

The Empathy Diaries Part 2, Chapters 8-11 Summary & Analysis

Part 2, Chapters 12-14

The Empathy Diaries Part 2, Chapters 12-14 Summary & Analysis

Part 3: “1976-1985”

Part 3, Chapters 15-18

The Empathy Diaries Part 3, Chapters 15-18 Summary & Analysis

Part 3, Chapter 19-Epilogue

The Empathy Diaries Part 3, Chapter 19-Epilogue Summary & Analysis

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Key Figures

The Empathy Diaries Key Figures

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Themes

The Empathy Diaries Themes

Index of Terms

The Empathy Diaries Index of Terms

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Important Quotes

The Empathy Diaries Important Quotes

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Essay Topics

The Empathy Diaries Essay Topics

The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir

Before You Read

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