"Corporeal existence is much deeper and richer and more multidimensional than that"
It only becomes rich and deep through the process of interaction and sharing. The only interactions which may not take place by phone, letter, or e-mail are strictly physical ones such as touch and smell. It is good to smell people, but it is not always possible. Many people have lost the use of one or more physical senses so these are not relevent to how they apprehend the other.
What is essential about people is not how many toes they have, but what their thoughts and their feelings are. If the human race was hit by a virus which removed the brains from every single human except myself and one other; I would gladly foego any physical contact with the mindless brutes in return for sharing thoughts and feelings with one human being far removed from my sense of sight. I cannot "know" somebody just by looking at them. "Knowing" is a learning process which takes place over time. Additionally, as I have said previously: Face-to-face experiences are often very inauthentic and artificial due to the realities of face-to-face risks.
On the other hand I know a great deal about you unless you were lying consistently and over a lengthy period of time. You have said a great deal on SI about your beliefs and values. You have drawn a fairly detailed portrait of your essential characteristics as a human. Of course, you could have been lying, but this protective forum generally encourages open expression.
Furthermore, I could write a report on say 10 SI members detailing their personalities, values, likes, dislikes, etc. and place copies in the hands of their most significant others, and they would be easily and immediately able to pick out the appropriate match.
You may not understand this, but people can and do get to know one another by sharing their thoughts and feelings. It is a simple concept really. |
