| Since we are, at this point, talking about the alleged comparative advantage of casual acquaintance in 3D, and I have mentioned some of the points you have (for example, about body language, or the possibility of lying tout court), we must get clearer the point of disagreement. I have said that there is somewhat more doubt in cyberspace, but that it is reasonable to assume that most people are honest most of the time, as we do in real life. I do not generally attempt independently to verify people's accounts of themselves, nor is "body language" reliable enough strictly to separate wheat from chaff. On the other hand, there is in fact more data given out over a protracted period of posting, ordinarily, much more than is available to most acquaintances. Thus, it seems to me that the greater area of doubt about accuracy has to be balanced against the more comprehensive provision of data, and that, in the end, we know each other better, on average, than do our casual acquaintances....... |
