Same and different: our experience of the world. Do we have the same experiences when we are in the same situation, as the two seated individuals are? They sit in the same square, on the same kind of anchored chair, looking out onto the plaza. To this extent, they certainly share the experience. But what they see and hear, how they think about it - it is unlikely that they share their subjective experiences. They don't seem to communicate, though they are very likely to be aware of each other. They are of different gender and age. They may not even share one language. And so they remain separated, though not alone. Hundreds of people pass by whilje they sit in their chairs. This is the subjective experience most of us seek out. To be with others who notice our existence in the same time and place, if only for a fraction of a second. It makes us feel real, experiencing others physically yet from a distance. It is an old-fashioned kind of activity. Perhaps the new world of electronic communication creates comparable new spaces for us to socialize and enjoy ourselves at a distance. But there is something about physical sharing of time and place, of visibility and recognition, that a screen or monitor fails to recreate, as we are evolving from real to virtual social animals.

Cast: Nunca Silva

Tags: subjective experience, objective reality, electronic communication, sociality, recognition and real and virtual