Humankind used to be generally considered a gregarious lot that drew its emotional strength from frequent direct contact with others, especially the young between the ages of 2 and 10. But, in recent decades, that trait seems to have been put aside somewhat because of the wider bandwidth of online friendships and digital entertainment. One often sees individuals in a crowd of friends who are so tuned in to online conversations that they seem completely oblivious to the warmth and emotional content around them. Thus many seemed semi-isolated well before the pandemic required social distancing. Now, it appears many are beginning to fret at the enforced separation and talking of how they are looking forward to seeing friends when the pandemic has passed.
Maybe because of the pandemic, electronic contact might finally be recognized as so much less satisfactory than the real thing.
Our family has always preferred real hugs to digital hugs. We are fretting until we can all get the vaccine and reestablish family patterns. We pray the same for all.
Humankind used to be generally considered a gregarious lot that drew its emotional strength from frequent direct contact with others, especially the young between the ages of 2 and 10. But, in recent decades, that trait seems to have been put aside somewhat because of the wider bandwidth of online friendships and digital entertainment. One often sees individuals in a crowd of friends who are so tuned in to online conversations that they seem completely oblivious to the warmth and emotional content around them. Thus many seemed semi-isolated well before the pandemic required social distancing. Now, it appears many are beginning to fret at the enforced separation and talking of how they are looking forward to seeing friends when the pandemic has passed.
Maybe because of the pandemic, electronic contact might finally be recognized as so much less satisfactory than the real thing.
Our family has always preferred real hugs to digital hugs. We are fretting until we can all get the vaccine and reestablish family patterns. We pray the same for all.