On the Necessity of Experience

So because my head was spinning mercilessly for the last couple hours, I decided to take a break from thinking about Chemistry and the Japanese language to watch a little bit of YouTube before returning to my work. Also I haven't written for a couple weeks and this is the first thing I've been inspired by in awhile. So here we go.

In the latest Vlogbrother's video, writer John Green poses the question about whether it's actually necessary to go places to get the true experience of being there or whether seeing it on film is sufficient.

Which is think is a slightly ridiculous question.

While the internet has enabled us to see/read a lot of things basically for free, it is incredibly limited in it's ability to let us experience things.

For example, in the above video Green goes to presumably the National Gallery and looks at a few of the artifacts. From my studies, I've learned that curatorship includes taking a lot of different factors into account like lighting, entire rooms as functional units and galleries themselves to make going through a museum a cohesive experience. These(at least in the above video) do not translate well onto the internet because we've taken them out of context. Things that are tiny in real life can be zoomed in on to seem massive but true scale is also part of the experience of looking at the object. Furthermore, we need to consider the limitations of the camera itself as opposed to examining something with our own eyes.

Another thing to consider is the fact that our eyes are not the only sense that is being used when we are processing events/places/views. Consider the following:

This picture was taken in a small Parisian bakery and a few key aspects of what would be making up this 'memory' are missing. Namely, smell and sound. If you were to venture to this bakery you would be able to smell the baked goods which is REALLY important where bakeries are concerned. Also, the sounds that make up this scene are really important too. There are probably a few people talking in rapid French, some old French songs playing on the radio. Cars whizzing by outside, people talking and laughing as they pass by the window. This photograph has been removed from its original context and that needs to be acknowledged.

The last issue I want to address is the uniqueness of experiences. The memory of places we've been or things we've seen is incredibly personal. Two people can see the same thing and come away with completely different impressions. This is just due to the differences between person to person and that's also something that can't be accounted for on the internet. So while we know what John Green did and saw in London, what would YOU go see and do in London? Probably a lot of different things.

In conclusion, the internet is useful for a lot of things but you ABSOLUTELY can not make the assumption that it is the same thing as going and and seeing something in person. Is it worth it to pay money and go see something live instead of on your computer or on your TV? Well, you should ask the people who buy football tickets versus the people who watch the game on TV. But seeing a vlog of London and standing on the banks of the River Thames are not interchangeable experiences.