Virtual Affection

Jeremy Rifkin has an interesting editorial in the Op-Ed section of today's Boston Globe entitled, "Virtual Companionship." He notes the decline in literacy among college graduates which some experts attribute to increased time spent watching television and surfing the internet, and the increased isolation of young people. Older children spend as much as 95 percent of their time viewing the TV by themselves, and for younger children ages 2-7 it isn't much better: they watch television by themselves as much as 81 percent of the time. He writes, "Our children are seeping further into virtual worlds and losing the emotional attachments that come with face to face real time participation with their fellow human beings."

The solution? Rather than reducing the time that children and young people spend alone in front of a computer or television screen and engaging with other people, those on the technological cutting edge are developing "affective computing." At a lab at the MIT media lab they are carrying out experiments with Laura, a virtual person. Rifkin quotes what he describes as a typical comment: "I like talking to Laura, especially those little conversations, about school, weather, interests, etc. She is very caring...I found myself looking forward to these fresh chats that pop up every now and then. They make Laura so much more like a real person."

He concludes his article by saying, "Frankly, it's hard to know whether to laugh off such technological pretensions as sadly pathological or whether to be truly frightened. There is no doubt that a growing number of young people find themselves enmeshed in virtual worlds where make believe substitutes for real-life experience. With 'affective computing' looming on the horizon, the truly lonely can look forward to interacting with silicon companions, emotionally programmed to empathize and even care, to be a friend, and an intimate confidant."

This taps into my concern that all of the IMing, facebook, and even emailing will lead to superficiality in relationships, that it will have over the long haul a negative impact on our ability to truly love our neighbors as ourselves. What do you think?