Technology shapes our experience: the way we see the world has always been framed by the way our current technologies frame our seeing. Today this is more true than ever: because of the dangers of human contact due to COVID-19, we are dependent on technology for most of our social interaction. Using applications like Zoom, we are able to bring the faces and voices of others into our own homes and hands. What is lost in the shift into a handheld social world? How is virtual social interaction different from face-to-face interaction? One person who might have some clues is Walter Benjamin. In his seminal essay, “The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproducibility,” Benjamin examines what is lost and what is gained when traditional works of art become mechanically reproducible through photography and film. Virtual interaction is originally made possible by these technologies. In this week's Philosophy for Lunch, we will discuss passages in Benjamin's essay in order to think about the differences between virtual and face-to-face social interaction.

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