--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The computer takes up where…" description: "\"The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It takes the ideas of a decentered self and makes it more concrete by modeling mind as a multiproc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png" --- # The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It… ![“The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It takes the ideas of a decentered self and makes it more concrete by modeling mind as a multiprocessing machine.” quote by Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png) > “The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It takes the ideas of a decentered self and makes it more concrete by modeling mind as a multiprocessing machine.” [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technology mirrors psychoanalytic concepts, turning the fragmented self into a parallel‑processing model. **In simple terms:** Tech turns mind into a computer. Key Takeaway Consider how tech reshapes self‑understanding. Themes technology psychology identity Mood analytical contemplative Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - digital therapy - AI development - self‑analysis - educational design Key Concepts posthumanism systems theory Questions to Reflect On - Can machines truly capture consciousness? - What aspects of self resist modeling? A Different Perspective Tech may oversimplify human nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychoanalysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychoanalysis/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Even the simple act which we describe as 'seeing someone we know' is, to some extent, an intellectual process. We pack the physical outline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/even-the-simple-act-which-we-describe-as-seeing-someone-we-know-is-to/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“An old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/an-old-alchemist-gave-the-following-consolation-to-one-of-his/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“En ting er fagkyndig analyse, en annen ting kvaksalveranalyse og onaniterapi.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harald-schjelderup/en-ting-er-fagkyndig-analyse-en-annen-ting-kvaksalveranalyse-og/) Harald Schjelderup > [I just always wanted to study human behavior because every psychologist that I would talk to would tell me I was bipolar, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-gates/i-just-always-wanted-to-study-human-behavior-because-every/) [Kevin Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-gates/) > [Movies are as old as psychoanalysis. So if I were to put you or anyone else on a couch and say, 'Tell me your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sarris/movies-are-as-old-as-psychoanalysis-so-if-i-were-to-put-you-or-anyone/) [Andrew Sarris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sarris/) > [The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-camera-introduces-us-to-unconscious-optics-as-does-psychoanalysis/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Cinema plus Psychoanalysis equals the Science of Ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/cinema-plus-psychoanalysis-equals-the-science-of-ghosts/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [In fact, people seem to be tired of fiction now. There are so many other ways of exploring humanity - by ethnology, psychoanalysis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/in-fact-people-seem-to-be-tired-of-fiction-now-there-are-so-many/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-the-1950s-and-early-1960s-psychoanalysis-swept-through-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; 'tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and the mere fact that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-not-seek-our-disease-out-of-ourselves-tis-in-us-and-planted-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [For whatever else the religious life may be, it is the fountain of self-knowledge and disillusion, the safest form of psychoanalysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cs-lewis/for-whatever-else-the-religious-life-may-be-it-is-the-fountain-of/) [CS Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cs-lewis/) > [Men have been adjudicating on what women are, and how they should behave, for millennia through the institutions of social control such as religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jeffreys/men-have-been-adjudicating-on-what-women-are-and-how-they-should/) [Sheila Jeffreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jeffreys/) > [If there's a lot of fear that's going on, if there's a lot of anxiety, it's manifesting itself in your nocturnal world so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-harris/if-there-s-a-lot-of-fear-that-s-going-on-if-there-s-a-lot-of-anxiety/) [Shelby Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-harris/) > [“Indoctrination is the most effective weapon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabiso-monkoe/indoctrination-is-the-most-effective-weapon/) [Thabiso Monkoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabiso-monkoe/) ## More by Sherry Turkle > [“From watching children play with objects designed as “amusements,” we come to a new place, a place of cold comforts. Child and adult, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/from-watching-children-play-with-objects-designed-as-amusements-we/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [“I said that we use digital “passbacks” to placate young children who say they are bored. We are not teaching them that boredom can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/i-said-that-we-use-digital-passbacks-to-placate-young-children-who/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [“enduring technological optimism, a belief that as other things go wrong, science will go right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/enduring-technological-optimism-a-belief-that-as-other-things-go/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [Conversation is the most human and humanizing thing that we do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/conversation-is-the-most-human-and-humanizing-thing-that-we-do/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [“In the classic children’s story The Velveteen Rabbit, a stuffed animal becomes “real” because of a child’s love. Tamagotchis do not wait passively but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/in-the-classic-children-s-story-the-velveteen-rabbit-a-stuffed-animal/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [Human relationships are rich and they're messy and they're demanding. And we clean them up with technology. Texting, email, posting, all of these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/human-relationships-are-rich-and-they-re-messy-and-they-re-demanding/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [“But at the same time, there is pressure to use technology in classroom in ways that make conversation nearly impossible. Interestingly, this technology is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/but-at-the-same-time-there-is-pressure-to-use-technology-in-classroom/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [I have to fight the impulse to use my phone as an alarm clock rather than leaving it in another room. If I don't,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/i-have-to-fight-the-impulse-to-use-my-phone-as-an-alarm-clock-rather/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [It all stems from the same thing - which is that when we are face to face - and this is what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/it-all-stems-from-the-same-thing-which-is-that-when-we-are-face-to/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [“The new technologies allow us to “dial down” human contact, to titrate its nature and extent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-new-technologies-allow-us-to-dial-down-human-contact-to-titrate/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/we-think-constant-connection-will-make-us-feel-less-lonely-the/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [If you're happy with where the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter have taken you, I'm not the Grinch. Someone called me Sherry Turkle's "evil Luddite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/if-you-re-happy-with-where-the-internet-facebook-and-twitter-have/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [My highest value is not that the trains are on time. I want to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/my-highest-value-is-not-that-the-trains-are-on-time-i-want-to-be-free/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [The selfie, like all technology, causes us to reflect on our human values. This is a good thing because it challenges us to figure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-selfie-like-all-technology-causes-us-to-reflect-on-our-human/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) > [Technology doesn't just do things for us. It does things to us, changing not just what we do but who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/technology-doesn-t-just-do-things-for-us-it-does-things-to-us/) [Sherry Turkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) [Explore all 151 Sherry Turkle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/) ## More Computer quotes > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) Jen-Hsun Huang > [It's interesting that the greatest minds of computer science, the founding fathers, like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, they all looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/it-s-interesting-that-the-greatest-minds-of-computer-science-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [One of our big goals in search is to make search that really understands exactly what you want, understands everything in the world. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-page/one-of-our-big-goals-in-search-is-to-make-search-that-really/) [Larry Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-page/) > [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [I'm from the South, so I'm very old-fashioned and I'm not very computer savvy at all, but I'm getting it. I understand that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-harmon/i-m-from-the-south-so-i-m-very-old-fashioned-and-i-m-not-very/) [Angie Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-harmon/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [A little bit more than 50% of what you see on screen is handcrafted and the other 50% was about emulating these textures on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-abreu/a-little-bit-more-than-50-of-what-you-see-on-screen-is-handcrafted/) [Alex Abreu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-abreu/) > [Well I'm trying to think what I put in... I think I put in 'why?' to see if I'd confuse the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/well-i-m-trying-to-think-what-i-put-in-i-think-i-put-in-why-to-see-if/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Our brains are great at knowing what to forget. We actually have to teach computers to do the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/our-brains-are-great-at-knowing-what-to-forget-we-actually-have-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugata-mitra/in-nine-months-a-group-of-children-left-alone-with-a-computer-in-any/) [Sugata Mitra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugata-mitra/) > [Why do you do what you do? Why do you dress the way you dress?Why do you do what you do with your time?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-conway/why-do-you-do-what-you-do-why-do-you-dress-the-way-you-dress-why-do/) [Tim Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-conway/) > [Yeah, I'm a geek. I read sci-fi and I watch sci-fi films. I love my computer and I love to fix it. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-benson/yeah-i-m-a-geek-i-read-sci-fi-and-i-watch-sci-fi-films-i-love-my/) [Amber Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-benson/) [Browse all 3,924 Computer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It takes the ideas of a decentered self and makes it more concrete by modeling mind as a multiprocessing machine.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sherry Turkle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalysis-left-off-it-takes-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalysis-left-off-it-takes-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/sherry-turkle-2764_computer_the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalys_1319650.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The computer takes up where psychoanalysis left off. It takes the ideas of a decentered self and makes it…” — Sherry Turkle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sherry Turkle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-turkle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The computer takes up where psychoanalysis...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalysis-left-off-it-takes-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-turkle/the-computer-takes-up-where-psychoanalysis-left-off-it-takes-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```