So an interesting realization after talking to Neville

[richyvo]

Why is the face to face encounter less profound than the internet one?

I expect the opposite and get disappointed.

P.S. This comes from the fact that I can seemingly talk to people about anything online but when I talk to people face to face, the topics of conversation seem so much more shallow, making me feel like I've lost something.

Comments

[johnparx]

well...my reasoning would be this:

first off, you're probably more comfortable speaking online. There's less stress placed on you, in terms of how much information you have to process at once (verbal, body language, not to mention all the variances in voices through varying tones and the like). Also, things are typically far more explicit, so less "brain power" is used on this as well.

All of that probably allows thought to come easier.

On top of that, you're allowed essentially however much time you want to respond online, whereas there's an unspoken time limit of sorts in face to face communication.

Not to mention the lesser effects of peer pressure from not being face to face.

*shrugs* that might be part of the reason

have said that, I also think we tend to have better conversations in person, to kudos for that!

[tildescence]

I am a horrible conversationalist in real life. I can never think of anything interesting to say and it always reverts to hideous silence. Probably why I haven't tried to make any friends at Northeastern; I don't think I'm capable of the kind of outgoingness that society needs. (Thom and Chris and Mattera were a fluke as far as I can tell.)

Part of my problem is that my thoughts are too complicated and subtle (not in a "smart" way, more in a "socially incompatible" way) to be sensible. People usually don't understand what I'm talking about when I say how I really feel. So I don't do that.

Online's a little easier, because everything's more honest and clear.

[thelonejew]

online you always have an easy out of the conversation and you can edit what you say before you say it

RL doesn't have a delete key or a quit option for conversations

[chickenbane187]

Could it be that you are expecting so much more meaning from meeting in RL than you normally would because thats how it is "supposed" to be?

I know most of my RL interactions with people, no matter who they are, tend to lack deep meaning, because it cant be forced. Expecting that which comes unexpectedly frequently leads to dissapointment.

Also, being able to edit what you say before you say it helps a lot. You have no idea how stupid I would seem if I did not have my good friend the delete key.

Maybe thats why noone in RL takes me seriously...