Loneliness and social isolation have become chronic issues across the world. We must resist attempts to close down meaningful human interaction, writes Husna Ara.
This is such a big issue. I’m an introvert with lots of social anxiety, so that’s saying something. I see lots of older folks who come into my clinic just for the company. Family is further apart, less time for recreation and increased interest in internet-based and IRL interactions is a big issue and I think we underestimate the importance of physical interaction and contact. We are social animals, after all.
Pile this with the Apple Vision Pro, VRChat, the idea of the Metaverse, I think there’s a misguided attempt in using VR to alleviate this, but I just don’t think it has the same impact. I personally think our technological accomplishments outpace our understanding of how they affect us as individuals or society, and in the same vein that we suffered in our ventures into nuclear and radiological materials in the post-war era, we’re seeing similar things with the expansion of the web, especially as it quickly is becoming as real and important as our physical world.
This is such a big issue. I’m an introvert with lots of social anxiety, so that’s saying something. I see lots of older folks who come into my clinic just for the company. Family is further apart, less time for recreation and increased interest in internet-based and IRL interactions is a big issue and I think we underestimate the importance of physical interaction and contact. We are social animals, after all.
Pile this with the Apple Vision Pro, VRChat, the idea of the Metaverse, I think there’s a misguided attempt in using VR to alleviate this, but I just don’t think it has the same impact. I personally think our technological accomplishments outpace our understanding of how they affect us as individuals or society, and in the same vein that we suffered in our ventures into nuclear and radiological materials in the post-war era, we’re seeing similar things with the expansion of the web, especially as it quickly is becoming as real and important as our physical world.