(English is below.)
2021年，法國思辨之夜以「Proches 」（近身）為題，同時延續前幾屆思辨之夜的主題——2018年「讓想像力奪權」、2019年「面向數位浪潮」、2020年「與自然共生」，探討於全球社會劇烈變化，所產生的驟變浪潮。
該篇文章2021.02.08刊載於典藏今藝術 https://artouch.com/art-views/review/content-33723.html
自2016年起，每年由法國發起的全球性活動「思辨之夜」（La Nuit des Idées），邀請不同領域代表性人物探討未來趨勢和思潮，並帶領社會大眾同聚一堂辯論思考。思辨之夜的核心概念源自法國悠久的人文脈絡，法國在台協會主任公孫孟（Jean-François Casabonne-Masonnave）表示：「法國熱愛人文與哲學思辨，藉此在公眾自由的表達中尋找社會共識，因而思想的交流與辯論，以及各種想法的交換，是非常重要的。」因此，發起全球性的24小時不間斷活動，擴及各國於各面向的議題討論，期待透過思辨，推進人們與社會創新，開啟多元面向的知識交流。
回應2020年突如其來的疫情（COVID-19）大流行、黑命攸關（Black Live Matter） 維權抗爭運動、白俄羅斯（Belarus）民眾反抗運動，以及黎巴嫩貝魯特地區大爆炸、各地街頭反抗疫情限制等，各式社會事件重燃社會張力，改變了人與人彼此間的關係，如：1.5公尺社交距離成為新生活模式、親密關係的侷限、全球化逐漸緩慢等，無疑在「重新洗牌」的一年，且面對難以預測的未來，2021年，法國思辨之夜以「Proches 」（近身）為題，同時延續前幾屆思辨之夜的主題——2018年「讓想像力奪權」、2019年「面向數位浪潮」、2020年「與自然共生」，探討於全球社會劇烈變化，所產生的驟變浪潮，使得人們生活模式與關係抵抗衝突中持續被掏洗、演化成不同的樣貌，邀請大眾一同思辨當代社會模式中個體與集體關係的轉變、全球經濟與社會在危機之中需要的新團結模式，乃至討論藉由數位科技加速生物控制的進程。
- 2021 思辨之夜 La Nuit des Idées 後疫情時代生活指南全程影片連結>>https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanArtSpaceAlliance/videos/231914241855820
有一說疫情造成停滯的一年，也有另一說2020年是世界重新建構的一年。這場疫情大流行改變了全球經濟、政治與交通，且個人於工作、人際交往與中長程的未來規劃重新調整。然而，無疑因劇烈的加速轉變，促使現今社會虛擬世界於實體世界再次強化，甚至逐漸取代實體世界，因為疫情當前唯有保持社交距離才是安全。雖說科技讓人們彼此能夠接近交換意見，卻也需再次反思疫情所產生的劇烈轉變對日常生活產生何種影響，基於此我們又能「近身」到什麼程度、科技又能協助我們接近到什麼程度？我們與他人之間的關係比以往更為重要，當人與人之間的距離因著科技與疾病重新改寫，人們的生活習慣、工作模式亦勢必做出調整。因此，2021年在台灣，如公孫孟所言，今年在疫情大流行的當下，唯獨台灣能夠實際、親身聚集討論，更呼應主題「近身」，故映照當前社會以「後疫情時代生活指南」為題，環繞「疫情下的資訊倫理隱憂」、「後疫情的新常態：受危機驅動的文化、創新及創意」、「社會參與及社會距離」、「生活零距離：數位線上與實體距離」及「在地與國際」幾大主題，透過這些關於人類身、心、靈狀態息息相關的議題，一同探討疫情時代對於現實日常生活所帶來的影響。
疫情下的資訊倫理隱憂
隨著科技的進步，卻沒有為人類帶來緩慢的生活，則帶領人類走向了永無止盡的忙碌，所感受到的壓力與緊張感加劇。如茱蒂・威吉曼（Judy Wajcman）所撰寫的《縮時社會：奪回遭科技控制的快轉人生》（Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism）一書中所提及，人類成為新興溝通裝置的人質，科技體驗加速了人類生活，對於時間的自主權被剝奪，難以覺察對於間的流逝，社會快轉不斷的快轉、失速狂奔，這樣的生活型態完全打破經濟學家凱因斯（John Maynard Keynes）於100年前對於科技將為人類帶來更多時間的說法。數位科技已經於人類生活與人際關係中舉足輕重。然而，現代化的科技社會支配著人類社會，不僅於時間上，更控制著生物特徵，各類設備對於「人」的分類與監視，人成為一種資料與數據的累積。回顧2010年左右，資料訊息與量化生活等概念成為現實時，社會開始透過各類監控生理數據的裝置搜集生物特徵，以及使用科技產品而產生的各類數位足跡，堆疊成為「個體」的行為與樣貌，人類從設計者轉變為被收集的資料數據，而這樣的情況有可能導致如凱西・歐尼爾（Cathy O’Nell）曾於《大數據的傲慢與偏見》（Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy）中提到：「一體兩面的大數據一不小心就可能成為毀滅性的武器」。
2020年起，疫情爆發，各國政府因爲求控制疫情擴散，進行實施的生理監控，也成為人類生活的雙面刃，因為了國家與絕大多數人的利益著想，隱私已不再存在，這樣的情況於許多國家都可見一般，台灣也不例外。此次講者法國數位科學科技倫理反思委員會（CCNE） 主席克勞德・齊許奈（Claude Kirchner）與g0V零時政府共同創辦人王向榮提到，多數國家為有效控制與追蹤潛在染病人員，一抵達國界時，透過資料填寫、手機號碼訊號位置的三角定位與GPS追蹤、每日的電話監控、大規模的城市監視器，以及識別與區域中其他智慧型手機接近程度等，甚至將人藉由二維碼進行分類，網絡般的數據收集所造成的是「資料隱私權」與「身體健康權」被強制剝奪。然而，面對如此強硬、侵入式的資料搜集，相對的法律保障卻難以跟上腳步，造成眾多數位倫理議題（註1）。
在生物訊息收集與隱私權剝奪一事，反觀如英國等國，雖政府鼓勵大眾下載使用非官方私人開發的APP，英國國家醫療保健服務（National Health Service，NHS），並沒有強制人民使用。如此兩樣情的生活樣貌，取決於民族文化脈絡的差異、對於政府的信心程度，以及對於個資與隱私的追蹤認知觀點等面向上的不同。然而，也正因為沒有強制的束縛，而導致疫情快速的升溫。另一個案例則是「配戴口罩」一事，在思辨之夜的小組討論中，有位長年於英國定居的成員分享，英國人因為文化及對自由的堅持，對於台灣人被規定於公共場所必須要配戴口罩感到惋惜。在此討論中，可觀察到英國人並非將公衛利益擺在其優先順序，而延伸產生群體價值與個人價值的矛盾衝突。
由此可知，因疫情延伸之行為監控，考驗著各國在個人反思與政府衛生政治決策的能力，又如齊許奈在演講中提到，如何讓社會大眾理解並自願遵守這些協議的重要性，如何有效的溝通，如何提升對於數位科技的素養，以達到私人生活與尊重他人生活的平衡點。這些都凸顯常設性思辨機構的重要性，以盡可能地將專業知識和公民社會連結一起。
（後）疫情的新常態：數位虛擬與實體距離
如前段所觀察，因為控制疫情的擴散，數位科技成為距離的管理、行動的管理的最佳應用，同時，因為隔離與諸多限制加速的數位化的應用，產生了社交環境的數位變革，人與距離重新被地位，交流與隔離媒介的關係也產生了變化，數位虛擬不僅逐漸取代現實生活，零接觸的數位生活儼然成為一種文化。然而，當虛擬世界取代現實日常時，原有的社會網絡與人際關係是否也被重新定位，進而導致人與人的親密關係產生改變？法國UTC大學開放政府研究學者克萊蒙・馬畢（Clément Mabi）於演講中提到數位生活取代現實日常，於社群領域的實踐面向上，人們能否遠距經營友好關係？在建立默契及更廣泛同理心面向上，共在（co-presence）又佔有何種地位。
在社交隔離時代，雖實際人際間的互動減少，然而為維繫社群網絡關係，轉而於社群媒體上大量互動。據eMarketer於2020年針對疫情間於美國使用社群軟體的調查報告US Social Media Usage Report（註2），美國成年人使用社群軟體的時間比2019年平均增加7分鐘，且使用會議軟體如Zoom及視訊通話的時間更長。且據金賽性、性別與生殖研究中心( Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction) 針對COVID-19下性與關係的報告（註3）指出，疫情導致人們逐漸寂寞，面對寂寞狀態，相較於穩定的交往關係，對於短期約會與訊息互動需求的人數上升。這些情況也能於交友軟體Tinder的使用率觀察到，抑或在社群軟體中的新趨勢——新冠式取暖（Corona Cuffing）（註4），這股「補償式交友」的需求反應了在社交距離限制增強人們怯弱與孤獨感，對於當前社會人們對於親密關係的極度渴望以及情感依賴。
實體距離無預期的不斷擴增，在人際交往上，也扭轉了原本社會因網路時代而盛行的勾搭文化 （Hookup Culture），現在人們更願意花時間聊天，與人交往的時間緩了下來，發展有意義的對話，對一個人深入了解，「慢約會」（Slow Dating）的相處更能與人建立默契與分享時光。這波疫情新常態，也不禁讓人反思如電影《雲端情人》（Her）的模擬／虛擬的代理情感，真能取代真實關係？這樣的虛擬「共在」（co-présence）能夠填補身體感官的直接接觸與真實情感交流，數位虛擬是否真能拉近現實中的實體距離？然而，僅止於文字與視訊上的相互慰藉使得當代親密關係走向「工具化」，這種因虛擬拉開的距離，也使得許多人際關係，如情侶、夫妻、家人、朋友等關係，逐漸「陌生化」，看似依舊透過虛擬仍舊可持續互動，卻僅只停留在表面，既熟悉又陌生的人際關係，實體距離與近身關係逐漸碎片化。
新溝通模式：受危機驅動的文化、創新及創意的社會參與
疫情期間，除了因為隔離引發社會動盪、親密關係轉變、職場生活失序與實體教育中斷外，也有許多公共空間關閉，如劇院、電影院、音樂廳與酒吧等，現實生活實踐逐漸趨緩，甚至停滯。然而，如馬畢於演講中提到疫情期間的文化實踐，反映數位虛擬空間，如影片的消費行為爆炸性成長，數位模式取代了劇院和電影院；於政治實踐面向上，則該省思在不在場與非近身情況下，人們如何實踐公共辯論與落實集體交換意見。新型態的「近身」又將如何被實踐？在這波「新常態」中於工作、教育、生活休閒娛樂面向上發展何種新可能？
疫情確實衝擊全球經濟，各產業無非要於此疫情下持續運作，為了實踐／仿擬日常現實生活的實體交流、生活零距離，借重數位科技重新省視生活價值與合作參與模式，成為創新和加速的驅力。如致力於新創社會服務的法國自由生活實驗室（Liberté Living-lab）育成中心共同負責人盧迪・龔彼耶（Rudy Cambier）於演講中提到人與人的實際交往變得困難，且許多個人、產業與國家面臨經濟危機，需要迅速轉型，透過創新設計開發將減輕全球災害的負面影響。因此台灣工研院產科國際所提出之「0接觸經濟」（0-Touch Economy）與「0距零創新」（0-Distance Innovation）推進當前各產業主要思考，並進行業務轉型與轉化工作流程，遠距協作的數位科技如何保有「以人為本」的溫度，體現人與人在現實空間中的實際互動，且仍保留即時性，亦可追蹤與管理。這些挑戰使各產業聚焦於（後）疫情時代生活型態的改變，重新開發與應用使用者介面與服務模式，創造更具「體驗式」與「身歷其境」的參與——如工研院產科國際所提倡「遠在雲邊，盡在眼前」（Physically Separated But Virtually Connected）的概念，在空間、產業、作業與市場等面向上進行創新，如整合虛實科技（AR/VR/XR）開發虛擬旅遊（Virtual Tourism）、線上會議軟體的開發（Zoom、Cisco Webex、Teams、Breakroom等）、Netflix發起的Netflix Party即時共同欣賞並討論電影、醫療需求的創新（口罩地圖、群組即時遠距健康照護平台Group realtime telehealth care platform，GRTCP）等。這樣的虛擬模式也影響了如藝術參與，在思辨之夜工作坊的參與成員提到雖數位科技提供更好的觀賞品質，卻少了許多互動性與即時性，以及藝術的在場感受，身體感受是分離的。因此，此現象也加速開啟新型態的創作模式，與各產業異業合作的可能性，如藝術家周書毅影武者系列作品《留給未來的殘影》、舊金山現代藝術博物館（SFMOMA）虛擬博物館的應用「#MuseumFromHome」等計劃，這類新型態的數位參與，也將培養新的觀眾與發展新的產業鍊。
除此之外，新數位應用使人與人在疫情期間依然能維持社交聯繫，如法國數位團結（Solidarité Numérique）線上平台，提供大眾於疫情隔離期間、宵禁限制、遠距工作或被孤立時刻，能夠於此平台上尋找支持與彼此相互連結，包含：醫療資源、教育資源、建立社交聯繫與購物互助等，諸如此的許多合作內容與應用，皆很快速地被付諸實踐。再者，因當今生活型態轉變，如Clubhouse的新型社群媒體也如春筍般興起，Clubhouse彷如倫敦海德公園（Hyde Park） Speaker Corner 的線上版本，使用者可以自由加入任何房間（Room），參與各類議題討論，提供民眾公開演說發表與表達自身理念的空間，同時，藉此也可尋找社會網絡的心理支持，這類平台有幾項特性「體驗的新鮮感」、 「互動性」與「共同創造內容」，或許正因為這些特性，人們在虛擬世界有更大的動力接觸新知、創造新連結與新溝通模式的嘗試。
然而，雖數位科技開展了新的生活樣態，然而又該如何落實數位平權？如龔彼耶接續提及這波數位爆炸的應用，使得偏遠地區、弱勢族群與數位科技資源較為缺乏的家庭受到影響，現在許多新創社會服務單位如自由生活實驗室（Liberté Living-lab）等，已著手開發新模式與科技運用，以弭平權利差異、改善社會孤立狀態，連結社會網絡，像是其於2021年發起ShiftLab計畫，集結多方合作聯盟來共同研究、創新與解決當今社會面臨公衛、交通、醫療、居住、創新教學等重大挑戰，特別是關於經濟模式與金融創新的議題。
現下，數位取代現實的孤立社會現象，如2019年思辨之夜主題，在這波數位浪潮，人們變得前所未有的開放，也前所未有的封閉與分化，面臨因疫情加速的數位繭居（Digital Cocooning），人們應該持續思考該如何在數位虛擬世界找回彼此的連結，如何透過創新應用提供人文思辨落實平台，同時維護人權價值，使得世界發展、個人關係才能在無法預知的未來，持續前進。
在地與國際的連結
如上所述，當代社會因疫情加速因趨勢所向的重大需求進行創新，合作方因數位科技的應用比以往擴大好幾百倍，隨之而來的是新型態的日常生活、工作模式與人際交往關係，機動性在這波創新下成為重要的核心概念，且新生活型態也將於疫情趨緩後延續。而台灣於疫情初始因有效的公衛危機，生活並未因疫情受到太多影響，成為如平行時空的存在，且因非如疫情嚴峻區域有許多生活上的創新需求，在這裡如同時間停止了一般，步調變得緩慢。同時，正因為生活依舊如往常，也正提供台灣向世界展現公衛、經濟、政治、民主等水平，進行各類的外交政策。然而，在面對整理大環境急速前進時，是否在疫情趨緩時期，在工作模式、生活型態等面向上仍舊能夠與世界接軌？參與工作坊成員分享到，我們應從重新省視在地與國際的角度，也如今年思辨之夜講者桃園市政府資訊科技局局長余宛如提到於（後）疫情時代，也需要積極思考在數位社會的當下，台灣於創新的數位戰略，以此緊密連結在地與國際。
最後，除了思考數位科技的劇烈轉變，引述MakeSense亞洲地區總監與菲律賓負責人蕾雅・克萊茵（Léa Klein）的分享，在這波未預料到的公共危機之下，也發現大規模的社會公益意識抬頭，許多單位與人們開始共同面對全球疫情中所遭遇的各種議題，除了經濟穩定、產業轉型等，在距離不斷被拉開、社會逐漸分化時，心理面向上的人與人之間傾聽、陪伴與關懷也是對於社會網絡與各種「近身」關係的建立相當關鍵，將為度過疫情危機注入不少能量。
註1 參考自BBC中文網《肺炎疫情：大數據監控公民留下的隱憂》。
註2 參考自Insider Intelligence”US Social Media Usage：How the Coronavirus Is Changing Consumer Behavior“
註3 參考自金賽研究所（Kinsey Institute）”Sex and Relationships in the Time of COVID-19“。
註4 參考自BBC中文網《肺炎疫情下的愛情：該如何跟新歡一起度過隔離時光？》。
La Nuit des Idées 2021: A Post-Pandemic Life Guide
This article was published on 8 February 2021 in ARTCO Today: https://artouch.com/art-views/review/content-33723.html
In 2021, France’s La Nuit des Idées (Night of Ideas) adopted the theme “Proches” (Closeness), continuing the themes of previous editions — 2018’s “Let Imagination Take Power,” 2019’s “Facing the Digital Wave,” and 2020’s “Living with Nature” — to explore the turbulent waves of change generated by dramatic global social upheaval.
Since 2016, the annual global event La Nuit des Idées, initiated by France, has invited leading figures from diverse fields to explore future trends and currents of thought, bringing the public together to debate and reflect. The event’s core concept draws from France’s long humanistic tradition. Jean-François Casabonne-Masonnave, Director of the French Office in Taiwan, noted: “France has a deep love for humanities and philosophical inquiry, using it to seek social consensus through free public expression. The exchange and debate of ideas, and the sharing of diverse perspectives, are therefore of great importance.” The event thus unfolds as a global, uninterrupted 24-hour programme spanning countries and topics, hoping that through critical inquiry, it can drive human and social innovation and open up multidimensional knowledge exchange.
In response to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Belarusian pro-democracy uprising, the Beirut explosion in Lebanon, and street protests against pandemic restrictions around the world — various social events reignited social tensions and transformed interpersonal relationships. The 1.5-metre social distancing rule became a new way of life; intimate relationships became constrained; globalisation began to slow. In what was undeniably a year of reshuffling, and faced with an unpredictable future, La Nuit des Idées 2021 took “Proches” (Closeness) as its theme. Continuing the threads of previous years, it explored how the waves of rapid change in global society have continuously reshaped and evolved people’s ways of life and relationships through friction and resistance. The event invited the public to collectively examine the transformation of individual and collective relationships in contemporary society, the new forms of solidarity needed for the global economy and society amid crisis, and the acceleration of biopolitical control through digital technology.
Full video link for La Nuit des Idées 2021 — A Post-Pandemic Life Guide: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanArtSpaceAlliance/videos/231914241855820
Some say 2020 was a year of stagnation caused by the pandemic; others say it was a year of global reconstruction. The pandemic reshaped the global economy, politics, and transportation, while individuals were compelled to readjust their work, social lives, and medium-to-long-term plans. Yet the radical acceleration of change undeniably reinforced — and even began to replace — the physical world with the virtual. In the face of the pandemic, maintaining social distance was the only safe option. While technology allows people to connect and exchange ideas, we must once again reflect on the profound impact of these dramatic shifts on daily life: to what extent can we truly be “close”? How much can technology help us approach one another? Our relationships with others matter more than ever. As the distance between people is rewritten by technology and disease, our habits and ways of working are inevitably transformed.
For this reason, the 2021 edition in Taiwan — where, as Casabonne-Masonnave observed, Taiwan was uniquely able to gather physically in person during the pandemic, thus literally embodying the theme of “closeness” — was held under the title “A Post-Pandemic Life Guide”. It revolved around several major themes: “Information Ethics and Privacy Concerns Under the Pandemic,” “The New Normal of the Post-Pandemic Era: Crisis-Driven Culture, Innovation, and Creativity,” “Social Participation and Social Distancing,” “Life at Zero Distance: Digital Online vs. Physical Distance,” and “Local and International.” Through these topics closely tied to the physical, psychological, and spiritual condition of human beings, participants collectively explored the impact of the pandemic era on everyday life.
Information Ethics and Privacy Concerns Under the Pandemic
Technological progress has not brought a slower pace of life to humanity — on the contrary, it has led people into an endless busyness, intensifying feelings of stress and tension. As Judy Wajcman writes in Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism, human beings have become hostages to new communication devices. Technology accelerates life, stripping people of autonomy over their time, making it difficult to perceive its passage. Society hurtles forward at breakneck speed — a lifestyle that completely overturns economist John Maynard Keynes’ prediction, made a century ago, that technology would give humanity more time.
Digital technology has become profoundly significant in human life and relationships. Yet modern technological society dominates not only our time but also our biology. Devices of all kinds classify and surveil “persons,” reducing the human being to an accumulation of data. Looking back to around 2010, when concepts such as data information and quantified living became reality, society began collecting biometric data through various devices monitoring physiological metrics, as well as the digital footprints generated by the use of technological products. These are layered to construct the behaviour and profile of an “individual.” Human beings have shifted from designers to data collected by others — a situation that risks what Cathy O’Neil warned of in Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy: “Big data, like a double-edged sword, can easily become a weapon of destruction.”
From 2020 onwards, as the pandemic erupted, biometric surveillance implemented by governments seeking to contain the spread of the virus became another double-edged sword in human life. In the name of national and majority interests, privacy ceased to exist — a situation visible in many countries, Taiwan included. Speakers Claude Kirchner, Chair of France’s National Consultative Ethics Committee for Digital Science and Technology (CCNE), and Xiang-Rong Wang, co-founder of g0v (the civic tech community), noted that to effectively control and trace potentially infected persons, many countries employed a web of data collection upon arrival at borders: form-filling, triangulation of mobile phone signal locations and GPS tracking, daily phone monitoring, large-scale urban surveillance cameras, proximity detection with other nearby smartphones, and even the classification of people via QR codes. This network of data collection resulted in the forcible stripping of both “the right to data privacy” and “the right to bodily health.” Yet in the face of such aggressive, invasive data collection, corresponding legal protections have struggled to keep pace, giving rise to a host of digital ethics issues (Note 1).
Regarding the collection of biometric information and the deprivation of privacy, contrast the case of the United Kingdom: while the government encouraged the public to download and use a non-official, privately developed app through the National Health Service (NHS), its use was not mandated. These differing approaches reflect differences in cultural context, levels of trust in government, and attitudes towards personal data and privacy tracking. Yet precisely because there was no compulsory constraint, the pandemic spread rapidly. Another case discussed was mask-wearing. In a small group session at La Nuit des Idées, a participant who had long resided in the UK shared that British people — due to their culture and deep commitment to personal freedom — felt sympathy for Taiwanese people being required to wear masks in public spaces. This exchange revealed that British people do not necessarily place public health interests at the top of their priorities, giving rise to a tension between collective and individual values.
All of this shows that behavioural surveillance arising from the pandemic tests each country’s capacity for individual reflection and governmental public health decision-making. As Kirchner noted in his talk, the key questions are: how do we help the public understand and willingly comply with these measures? How do we communicate effectively? How do we improve digital literacy so as to strike a balance between private life and respect for others’ lives? These issues all highlight the importance of permanent institutions for critical inquiry, so as to connect expert knowledge with civil society as far as possible.
The New Normal of the (Post-)Pandemic Era: Digital Virtual Space and Physical Distance
As observed above, to contain the spread of the pandemic, digital technology became the optimal tool for managing distance and movement. At the same time, isolation and various restrictions accelerated digital adoption, producing a digital transformation of the social environment. People and distance were redefined; the relationship between mediated exchange and isolation shifted. The digital virtual has not only gradually replaced everyday life — contactless, digital living has become a culture in itself.
Yet when the virtual world replaces physical daily reality, are existing social networks and interpersonal relationships also repositioned, thereby transforming intimate human relationships? Clément Mabi, a researcher in open government at France’s UTC University, asked in his talk: as digital life supplants physical reality, can people maintain warm relationships remotely in the domain of community? And in terms of building rapport and broader empathy, what role does co-presence play?
In the age of social isolation, although face-to-face interaction has decreased, people have turned to social media for extensive interaction in order to maintain social networks. According to a 2020 eMarketer report on social media usage in the US during the pandemic (Note 2), American adults spent on average 7 minutes more per day on social media than in 2019, and spent even more time on conferencing platforms such as Zoom and video calls. A report from the Kinsey Institute on Sex and Relationships in the Time of COVID-19 (Note 3) found that the pandemic has made people increasingly lonely and that, in response to loneliness, demand for short-term dating and messaging interactions has risen relative to stable relationships. This can be observed in the usage of the dating app Tinder, as well as in the new trend of “Corona Cuffing” on social media (Note 4). This surge in “compensatory socialising” reflects how social distancing restrictions have heightened feelings of vulnerability and loneliness, and reveals people’s intense yearning for intimacy and emotional dependence in contemporary society.
The unexpected and ever-growing expansion of physical distance has also upended the hookup culture that had pervaded society in the internet age. People are now more willing to spend time talking, slowing down the pace of social interaction, developing meaningful conversations, and getting to know someone deeply. “Slow dating” — a more gradual approach to spending time together — allows for greater rapport and shared experience. This pandemic-era new normal also prompts reflection on whether simulated or virtual surrogate emotions — as in the film Her — can truly replace real relationships. Can such virtual “co-presence” fill the void left by the absence of direct bodily and sensory contact and genuine emotional exchange? Can the digital virtual truly close the physical distance in real life?
Yet the mutual comfort offered by text messages and video calls alone has rendered contemporary intimacy increasingly “instrumental”. The distance created by virtuality has caused many relationships — between couples, spouses, family members, friends — to gradually become “estranged.” Interactions may still continue through virtual means, but they remain at a surface level. These relationships are simultaneously familiar and strange; physical closeness and intimate proximity are becoming increasingly fragmented.
New Modes of Communication: Crisis-Driven Culture, Innovation, Creativity, and Social Participation
During the pandemic, beyond the social upheaval caused by isolation, the transformation of intimate relationships, disruption to working life, and the interruption of in-person education, many public spaces also closed — theatres, cinemas, concert halls, bars — and the practice of physical, lived reality gradually slowed, even coming to a standstill. Yet as Mabi noted in his talk regarding cultural practice during the pandemic, digital virtual spaces saw explosive growth — for instance, video consumption surged dramatically, with digital formats replacing theatres and cinemas. In terms of political practice, we must reflect on how people can practise public debate and realise collective exchange of opinion in conditions of absence and non-proximity. How will new forms of “closeness” be enacted? What new possibilities will emerge in work, education, and leisure entertainment under this “new normal”?
The pandemic has undeniably impacted the global economy, and every industry must find ways to continue operating. To simulate and replicate the physical exchanges of everyday life — to achieve “life at zero distance” — industries have turned to digital technology to re-examine the value of life and modes of collaborative participation, making it a driver of innovation and acceleration. Rudy Cambier, co-director of the Liberté Living-lab incubator in France, noted in his talk that actual human interaction has become difficult and that many individuals, industries, and nations are facing economic crises requiring rapid transformation. Through innovative design and development, the negative impacts of global disaster can be mitigated. In this context, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) proposed the concepts of “0-Touch Economy” and “0-Distance Innovation” to guide industrial thinking about business transformation and workflow adaptation. The challenge is how remote collaboration through digital technology can retain a “human-centred” warmth, embodying the genuine interaction between people in physical space, while also remaining real-time, trackable, and manageable.
These challenges have focused industries on the transformation of lifestyles in the (post-)pandemic era, prompting the redevelopment and application of user interfaces and service models to create more “experiential” and “immersive” engagement — encapsulated in ITRI’s concept of “Physically Separated But Virtually Connected.” Innovations span space, industry, operations, and markets, including: the development of Virtual Tourism integrating augmented reality, virtual reality, and extended reality (AR/VR/XR); the proliferation of online meeting software (Zoom, Cisco Webex, Teams, Breakroom, etc.); Netflix Party, which allows real-time communal viewing and discussion of films; and medical innovations such as mask maps and Group Real-time Telehealth Care Platforms (GRTCP).
This virtual mode has also affected arts participation. Participants in the La Nuit des Idées workshop noted that while digital technology provides better viewing quality, it loses much of the interactivity, immediacy, and sense of artistic presence — the bodily experience is severed. This has accelerated the emergence of new modes of creation and cross-sector collaboration, such as Taiwanese artist Chou Shu-Yi’s Shadow Series: Residual Images for the Future, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)’s virtual museum initiative #MuseumFromHome. These new forms of digital participation will also cultivate new audiences and develop new industry chains.
Beyond this, new digital applications have allowed people to maintain social connections during the pandemic, such as France’s Solidarité Numérique (Digital Solidarity) online platform, which provides support for the public during isolation, curfews, remote work, or periods of loneliness — offering access to medical resources, educational resources, social connection building, and mutual aid for shopping. Many such collaborative initiatives have been swiftly put into practice.
Furthermore, new social media platforms have sprung up in response to the shifting landscape of contemporary life. Clubhouse, for instance, emerged as an online version of London’s Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner, where users can freely join any room and participate in discussions on all manner of topics, providing a space for open speech and the expression of ideas, while also offering psychological support within social networks. Such platforms have several distinctive features: the novelty of the experience, interactivity, and co-created content. Perhaps precisely because of these qualities, people have greater motivation in the virtual world to engage with new knowledge, forge new connections, and experiment with new modes of communication.
Yet while digital technology has opened up new ways of living, we must ask: how do we achieve digital equity? As Cambier noted, this wave of digital explosion has left behind remote areas, marginalised communities, and families with fewer digital resources. Many social innovation organisations, such as the Liberté Living-lab, have already begun developing new models and technological applications to bridge the rights gap, alleviate social isolation, and strengthen social networks. For instance, the ShiftLab initiative launched in 2021 brings together multi-stakeholder alliances to collaboratively research, innovate, and address major social challenges — in public health, transportation, healthcare, housing, innovative education, and particularly economic models and financial innovation.
At present, the social phenomenon of digital replacing physical reality — echoing the 2019 La Nuit des Idées theme — shows that in this digital wave, people have become simultaneously more open and more closed and fragmented than ever before. Facing the accelerating digital cocooning brought about by the pandemic, people must continually reflect on how to reclaim connection with each other in the digital virtual world, and how to use innovative applications to provide a platform for humanistic inquiry while safeguarding human rights values — so that the world’s development and personal relationships may continue to move forward into an unpredictable future.
Local and International Connections
As discussed above, contemporary society has been driven by the pandemic to accelerate innovation in response to pressing needs. The pool of potential collaborators has expanded by orders of magnitude through digital technology, giving rise to new forms of daily life, work, and interpersonal relationships. Mobility has become a core concept in this wave of innovation, and the new lifestyle will persist even after the pandemic subsides.
Taiwan, having managed the early stages of the pandemic through effective public health measures, saw little disruption to daily life — existing as though in a parallel universe. Lacking the urgent need for innovation in daily life experienced by severely affected regions, time in Taiwan seemed almost to stand still, the pace of life slowing. At the same time, precisely because life continued as normal, Taiwan was afforded the opportunity to demonstrate its capacities in public health, economics, politics, and democracy to the world, and to pursue various diplomatic initiatives.
However, as the broader environment races forward, will Taiwan be able to keep pace with the world in terms of work models and lifestyles when the pandemic eventually subsides? Workshop participants shared that we should re-examine the relationship between local and international perspectives. As Taoyuan City Government Chief Information Officer Wan-Ru Yu noted at this year’s La Nuit des Idées, in the (post-)pandemic era we must also actively think about Taiwan’s digital innovation strategy within the digital society, in order to forge closer connections between the local and the international.
Finally, beyond reflecting on the radical transformation wrought by digital technology, the talk by Léa Klein, MakeSense’s Asia Regional Director and Philippines Head, highlighted that this unforeseen public crisis has also given rise to a large-scale awakening of social consciousness. Many organisations and individuals have begun to collectively confront the issues encountered during the global pandemic — not only economic stability and industrial transformation, but also, as distance continues to grow and society increasingly fragments, the psychological dimensions of listening to one another, accompanying each other, and showing care. These are equally critical to building social networks and all forms of “close” relationships, and will provide no small amount of energy for navigating through the crisis of the pandemic.
Note 1: Cf. BBC Chinese, “Pandemic: Privacy Concerns Left by Big Data Surveillance of Citizens.”
Note 2: Cf. Insider Intelligence, “US Social Media Usage: How the Coronavirus Is Changing Consumer Behavior.”
Note 3: Cf. Kinsey Institute, “Sex and Relationships in the Time of COVID-19.”
Note 4: Cf. BBC Chinese, “Love in the Time of Coronavirus: How to Spend Quarantine with a New Flame.”