I appreciate your standpoint, but I don't believe that we cannot have fulfilling interpersonal relationships via the internet. It's just a bit different. I and others I know all communicate almost solely by relay, and even though we cannot physically be together, we can still have meaningful experiences together! These relationships are every whit as real and fulfilling as relationships I could have if I went directly to where they were and interacted with them physically. If I did go physically, it would be a gift of great value to them of course, because they know how far it is for me.
| I don't believe that we cannot have fulfilling interpersonal relationships via the internet.| Not my argument. I've been friends with a guy in Scotland since 1995. Never so much as heard his voice. Now there - there we can disagree. Come at it from the other side - you have friends that you hang out with and interact with. You eat meals with them, watch movies with them, talk about classes with them. Consider carefully: If you never saw them in person ever again, would your relationship be diminished? I don't think you can honestly say that an in-person relationship does not suffer from becoming a text-based relationship. I think it can still be a strong relationship, but it becomes a different relationship. Thus, back to the core argument: People who focus on online relationships lose some of their ability to have an in-person relationship. I would argue that your inability to distinguish between the two demonstrates my point. If I can experience a closer relationship off-line than I can online, while you can experience just as intense a relationship online as off, which is more likely: A) You experience a greater depth of connection in all things than I do B) Your ability to experience connection in person has been diminished compared to me I can make an argument for B. Can you make an argument for A?These relationships are every whit as real and fulfilling as relationships I could have if I went directly to where they were and interacted with them physically.
I don't think that you can really make an argument for either, unless you had some sort of quantitative proof of a deeper relationship. Otherwise, we wouldn't have any way to compare the depth of our relationships. As for your first point, I have a friend that I met in high school, and we hung out almost every single day during and after school. We hung out so much that our families just sort of adopted each other. In any case, he had to move to a different school after sophomore year, but even so, our friendship is still very strong because we still hang out almost every day over the internet. He is my best friend and would trump any of the friends I see from day to day in real life. The friends that I meet day to day still mean a lot to me, but they still rank below my friend that I haven't seen face to face for almost six years.
I can, in fact. It is the premise of the aforementioned MIT professor's body of work over the past 25 years. See also: Love and Sex with Robots. | our friendship is still very strong because we still hang out almost every day over the internet.| That was not the argument. The argument was that your relationship had been diminished by his moving away. I'm glad you skype every day. If you could choose to see him in person, would you? Once again, I'm saying "there is scholarly data that reflects that." You're saying "It doesn't really feel true to me that." And, once again, this is like arguing "I know you just accused me of myopia, but I don't believe there's a man standing on that hill over there."I don't think that you can really make an argument for either
Whoops, I must have missed your earlier link to his work. Perhaps my ability to make relationships has been crippled both inside and outside the sphere of the internet, but to me it doesn't make a lot of difference. All I know is my perspective, I've never experienced anything else. While you may find that regrettable, I see no difference at all. My relationships feel deep and meaningful to me, so why should I seek something different?
Again, my point. Not saying you should. However, you are posting in a thread called "The internet is wasting our lives" and I set forth a number of points why the author might feel that way. Soldier on, li'l camper. But also recognize that when someone explains why someone else feels empty inside, "but personally, I don't feel empty therefore your answers are wrong" is not a valid tactic of debate.All I know is my perspective, I've never experienced anything else
My relationships feel deep and meaningful to me, so why should I seek something different?