Virtuous reality

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I was tickled by the above cartoon in the current edition of Phoenix.

We live so much of our lives these days in a virtual world that things can get very confusing and full physical human contact is often not appreciated. So much easier to press a button than climb to the top of the mountain to actually meet the Man.

The cartoon reminded me of a poem by Pat Ingoldsby in his 2011 book Hitting Cows with a Banjo.

There are also resonances of a story told by Eamonn Andrews, Chairman of the RTÉ Authority 1960-64 when Ireland set up its first TV service. He quotes a remark of a child on seeing snow for the first time, "Look Mammy, snow, just like on television".

So, what's real's real, and what's not isn't.