Suppose we end up standardizing, as a social norm, on not being physically co-located. What will that mean for fashion and appearance?
When the “normal” way to interact with another person face to face is through the intervention of technology, will we start to change our views of appearance? Will standards of beauty change when how we look in a social situation becomes a fashion accessory rather than an endowment from nature?
Will there be brave and hardy souls who buck the trend and insist, even generations down the line, on appearing in their natural form, the way nature created them? And if so, will other people tolerate this?
Or will being a “naturalist” become something shunned. Or will it even become illegal, the way it is now illegal to walk around in public without clothing?
I guess only time will tell.
I wonder whether people will control how they appear to others or how others appear to them.
When I see a post from my mother on a social media site, I see her name and profile photo as she selected. But when she calls me, my phone announces her as “Mom” with a photo I selected.
And what about invisibility? Will we be able to lurk in a public place without being perceived by others? Or by certain others?
Will we have the ability to remove people we don’t care to see? Given the ability, I fear there will be people who will choose to not only pretend there are no homeless people in their cities, but to literally not see them. Or maybe parents will consider the sight of a paraplegic person too disturbing for their children. Or of a couple kissing.
I think Black Mirror has barely scratched the surface of the conundrums these technologies will enable.