The “virtualization” of the physical world has been a powerful trend in recent years. So much of the work we used to transact and the play we used to enjoy together in public has migrated online. With the onset of Covid, the trend has only accelerated and likely will not reverse even after the pandemic recedes. Now at the pandemic’s one-year mark, we ought to pause to reflect how far we want or are even able to accommodate ourselves to this trend.

When it became clear that the spread of the coronavirus posed a public health threat, our governor issued a series of executive orders to close public gathering spaces. All at once, the shops and businesses on which we used to depend for the purchase of goods and services were shuttered. The schools to which we used to send our children to be educated were closed. Bars and restaurants where we used to go to meet our friends were shut down. And last but not least, the churches where we used to gather for public worship were forced to stream services online. Granted, at no time were we prevented from going to the grocery and the big-box stores for our basic necessities. But soon, more and more of us discovered websites and apps through which, with one click, we could have much of what we got there delivered right to our doorstep.

Observers of this trend point out that it has made life so much more convenient in many ways. That may be true, but at what price? In his upcoming book 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman notes that our increasing reliance on our electronic devices thanks to the greater convenience they bring to our lives, can, ironically enough, diminish the quality of them. He argues that it is often the unanticipated friction in life that slows us down long enough to forge meaningful connections with others.