As we immerse ourselves in virtual communities, what may be happening to our capacity for face-to-face interaction? Rice University’s Dr. Tony Gorry explores this question in a thought-provoking paper, Empathy in a Virtual World. Here’s the abstract:
Has our growing intimacy with digital technology thrust us into a modern version of Plato’s Cave where, Socrates tells us, prisoners mistook shadows on a wall for for reality? We, of course, are not in chains, and the technology of Socrates’ cave with its statues and firelight is primitive compared to our multimedia computers. Still, if he were here today, Socrates might make us uncomfortable with questions about modern life. While we can connect electronically with countless people in novel ways, we reach most of them only at computer’s length. Is this growing dependence on virtual interaction actually weakening social bonds? By attending so intently to the flickering images on our computer screens, are we turning our backs on true social life?
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