The idea behind Thoreau Farm as a place for stories is connection. We seek to connect people in meaningful ways. Our storytelling programs seek to confront real problems described in recent debates concerning the dehumanizing effects of technology and how it disconnects us. Thoreau himself issued such warnings:
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate. (Walden.)
Sherry Turkle of MIT will be interviewed by Krista Tippett this week on Krista’s radio show “On Being.” She addresses the question: What is the path to integrating technology into robust, meaningful living? Check it out at their website: Krista Tippett On Being