Nothing compares ‘meeting someone in person’. It isn’t
always possible, especially in today’s times.
However, what is truly different in the modern times is ‘meeting
someone but not-in-person’. We now meet a lot more people – but only through
our eyes or ears.
Examples:
- Phone calls of any kind where we can hear people (these days we can see them as well)
- Pictures – when we meet people through the eyes only (especially on social media these days)
- We also meet people while watching televisions shows, movies, online videos, etc. – through these two senses
This would definitely have had far-reaching implications on humankind – a small part of which I would like to discuss here.
‘The increasing role of these two senses on how we look at others and want to be seen’
These not-in-person meetings are incomplete and hence insufficient to truly meet and understand a person. Yet, we have started to completely believe in these incomplete encounters; thereby increasing the importance of being seen or heard in a certain way.
At some point in history, it probably did not matter as much.
Nowadays, only a rare few would consider questions like, “How
do I look?” and “How does he/ she look?” as unimportant.
