ok, ok. i’ve got the question for the ages. back in the day, the was nothing that seperated us from each other. then came radio, which made us a little more distant. ok, fine. next was television. allright, a little more withdrawn from each other. a few years ago, the internet came along. whoa, now all of a sudden we can stay at home and do a million things that we couldn’t have done previously (shop, play games, interact, etc.). my question is, what do you suppose is the next step? virtual reality? or have we reached a limit as to how independent we can be? personally, i dont think so…
Asimov had a story–Caves of Steel–in which everyone lived alone, communicated almost exclusively by a kind of picturephone. They came together only as briefly as possible to procreate and I think had Asimov known of in vitro fertilization, even that might not have been necessary. That would seem to be the ultimate in isolation. I believe it was one corner of my very own universe.
I don’t remember the name of the Asimov story, but it was so much isolation that the woman ended up having sex with the Robot (Maybe that was the origin of Pornbots). In that story the Robot destroy itself outof shame/dilemma.
Maybe Asimov is not only the father of Robotics but also of Pornobotics 
Read “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. Has a very interesting and humorous take on the next step virtual reality world.
This questions defies a factual answer. Ergo, it’s off to IMHO.
I would argue that the ongoing transition from a TV-based society to an internet-based society is actually strongly increasing the amount of bridging social capital, with case in point #1 being the SDMB.
I think the communications technologies have been bringing us together in droves, even to the point of making old distances irrelevant:
[ul]
[li]The obvious case is physical distance. I can talk with you, you can talk with me, even though we’re seperated by who knows how many miles. Hell, I don’t even have to know where you are to send you text, audio, images, or video. How does that compare to the pre-radio era?[/li][li]Cultural distances, too, are breaking down. I’ve met Dutchmen, Englishmen, Australians, Israelis, and people from who knows how many cultural backgrounds on the SDMB alone. I often don’t know where someone is from or what culture they were raised in until they drop a reference somehow. In the old days, I’d be lucky to know Canadians.[/li][li]Racial distances are disappearing altogether. I don’t know what race anyone on this board identifies with or gets classified as until they tell me. Since all text looks the same, nobody can form snap judgements based on skintone or accent here. It’s really hard to be a racist online: You never know who you’re talking with. In the old days, it would be hard to cover up race or eliminate it as a factor from dealings.[/li][li]Psychological distances can be healed. A surprising number of the people on this board are clinically depressed, manic-depressive, or psychotic, and so have limited social interactions face-to-face. Here, they can act out more, feeling free from their affliction by trading physical closeness for mental and emotional closeness. In the old days, I would be a rather lonely geek with no method of communication I wold feel comfortable using other than the slow postal system.[/li][/ul]Where is this isolation of which you speak?
But… The loss of real face to face has taken us to the point of not being responsible for what we say. We are anonymous and so we can cross all the lines of civility, and often do IMO, and this habit will sooner or later get our faces rearranged IRL if we are not extremely careful.
YMMV::: do it here, but in my yard, say that and you’ll go down hard. :::::
In addition to what Derleth listed, even the language barrier will soon be breached, I imagine, and I’ll be able to talk to people who don’t even share a language in common with me. 
What I meant was being isolated from the real, physical world as opposed to the virtual world where you can meet anyone at any given time. My point is that the internet maybe bringing us together collectively, but for alot of people, it is a means of escape, a type of drug if you will. The same with television and radio (back when those old action/drama shows were aired). All of these things are used as a means of escape from the daily grind. With the internet, you can do everything from your own home and not worry about anything except paying the bill to keep it going. In that sense, people can be more withdrawn. Which brings me to the original question: What is the next step? or Have we reached the point where we can be independent for only so long?
flood: What’s this about being `independent for only so long’? Nobody has revoked your right to step outside. Nobody has chained you to your computer. Your arguments don’t really make sense.
Hari, despite your Asimov-inspuired name, I think you’ve got a slight error here. In Caves of Steel (great book) everyone was living crammed together, cheek-by-jowl in Earth’s heavily populated cities. It was in the sequel to CoS – The Robots of Dawn that the Spacers on the planet Aurora lived in widely-separated houses, with minimal physical contact (and a consequent dislike of it).
IIRC, Asimov features robot sex in one of his short stories, too.
Wow.
I didn’t think it would really be that difficult to understand. Can we agree that the purpose of T.V. is a means of escape rather than just entertainment? If so, then we can consider the internet to be the same thing as well. A form of escape. Still with me? If so, then what would the next step be? What would the next form of escape be? Some sort of virtual reality? Could we end up like the people in Asimov’s story?
flood - You make it sound as if 100 years ago, people spent all their free time together. That isn’t so. First of all, there was far less free time. In the cities, working people generally had a longer working day than we have now. There were few labour-saving devices to cut down work in the home. And in a mostly rural US, people worked from sun up to sun down on their farms. They might’ve gone into town once a week for supplies, and gone to church once a week. They pretty much just had their families to entertain them. And because people worked so much harder, I’m sure they didn’t feel like doing much that was strenuous in their little free time. Another factor is transportation. Before this age of easy transportation, you were limited to the speed and distance you could travel with a horse. I’d say we’re probably at least as social as people 100 years ago, before the advent of TV and radio, let alone the internet.
StG
Everyone is completely missing the point of this thread. I’m not saying that we are all hermits living in our own homes and not interacting, but what I mean is that…nevermind. I seem to be talking out of my ass and this thread is going nowhere fast. Hari Seldon is the only poster that actually understood what I was getting at. I’m sorry you all. I think I’ll just go live in a cave by myself…
Actually, flood, you’re wrong. The radio didn’t come first – books did. I mean, before we invented that freaky printing press thing, we had to share all our knowledge and stories orally. We had to communicate and have all this shiny feel good togetherness. Sure, living past age 5 was sheer luck, and you’d count yourself lucky if you lived past 50, but who cares? We were all together in communal bliss! Aside from the torture, war, and crime, of course.
And heck, maybe I’m wrong – maybe it wasn’t the books that were the first ones to seperate us. Maybe it was writing in the first place! Heck, maybe it was language, period! You don’t see monkeys out there all alone, do you? You can bet they don’t have these problems with integrating say, Spanish speakers into a largely English speaking country! Little details like that don’t worry the monkeys, oh no!
Of course, flood, I’m exaggerating, but you see my point, surely? I doubt anyone was thinking about this problem in the middle ages, but if it had occured to anyone, no doubt they’d have complained. There are worries about any new technological advancement, and that’s natural, and occasionally even deserved.
However, I honestly don’t see any signs that the world is unable to communicate. Derleth listed all the reasons the internet promotes closeness better than I could.
I’ve played Pictionary online with friends I’d never met IRL. Laughed and laughed and laughed, and had a great deal of fun. It really made me think: I live in an age where I, sitting in Oregon, can play Pictionary with people who are sitting in southern California, Arizona, New York, or anywhere else in this damn world that has some kind of internet access. And what’s more, it’s so normal and everyday that’s it’s free. Most people don’t even think about it twice.
You’re telling me this seperates us?
[upon preview: I think we do get what you’re telling us, flood. You just don’t get what we’re telling you. I’ll post this anyways since it took me a damn long time to write.]
Just random thoughts on the topic:
I am amazed at how full the parking lots at stores are, and how many people are in those Starbucks places. Freeways are still jammed with traffic, and airports have crowds. Despite the Internet, TV, etc., I don’t see “escape” right now. I don’t use TV or the Internet for escape. TV is mostly for news, and I especially like the BBC news. Internet for me is mostly research and some email.
I suppose some video games are already in the realm of “virtual reality.”
FWIW
ok, so youre at home playing pictionary with your buddies online right? what’s going on around you? outside of your home in other words? see what i mean? i’m not saying that the internet doesnt bring us together, what i’m saying is that we use it as A MEANS OF ESCAPE A MEANS OF ESCAPE A MEANS OF ESCAPE. thats all i was getting at. we can agree that BOOKS, RADIO, AND T.V. ARE ALSO A MEANS OF ESCAPE correct? well then, why cant you understand that so is the internet, more so than anything else? now, once again, we use these things as a means of escape from the regular daily grind right? WILL IT COME TO THE POINT THAT ALL WE DO IS COMMUNICATE (OR PLAY PICTIONARY) VIA THE INTERNET OR SOME OTHER WAY, WHEN PHYSICAL INTERACTION IS NO LONGER NECESSARY? PERSONALLY, I DON’T THINK SO. AFTER ALL, WE STILL NEED TO FUNCTION AS A SOCIETY CORRECT? WELL THEN, WHAT’S THE TAKE OF WHOEVER HAPPENS TO READ THIS POST?
My take? We can all communicate better without screaming or doing the Internet equivalent of screaming.
More relevently, though, I agree with you. I don’t think it will come to the point where all we do is communicate via the internet. Humans are not solitary animals; most of us need to be actually physically with other people for at least some of the time to stay happy.
As Violet mentioned, places are still extremely crowded with people, and I have no doubt that won’t change. With the ever increasing population, it will probably become more and more difficult to be by ourselves even if we wanted to, in fact.
There is a book by Phillip K Dick and I can’t recall the title but it is the second book in the Valis trilogy.
Anyway in the begining the main character lives on Venus in a little bubble and all his waking hours are spent downloading the music of a particular artist. (somehow this is his job?) His food and supplies are delivered to him and he never interacts face to face with others. It is with total fear and dread that he goes to the next bubble to check up on his neighbor after being told to do so by radio. (of course since this is a PKD novel none of this may be real and it may only be symbolic for something else, like us)
I do think that we are more distant from our neighbors. I will spend more time today talking to my cyber neighbors then my real neighbors. I don’t really know why.