At this evening’s Billboard Music Awards, one of the performances will include a hologram of Michael Jackson. I think this is amazing (and a little creepy but that’s probably just me). But it got me thinking about holograms. Part of the description I found was kind of interesting and caused me to reflect on some parallels between holograms and real life.
A hologram is a light field that appears as a 3D image. The image changes as the position and orientation of the viewing system changes
Showing up as a hologram may be briefly interesting and enjoyable for those of us who are watching the show, but not so much for Michael Jackson.
How often do the people we engage with feel like a hologram version of themselves based on our ‘orientation toward them’. Are we ‘oriented’ to be present and truly listen? Is our mind somewhere else? Are we focusing on our response instead of connecting with the words and emotions they are bringing to the conversation?
When you respond to me in a way that makes me believe you are present in the conversation and really hearing what I am saying, it is a subconscious confirmation that I exist. I exist because you are. This brings to mind the only discussion I recall having in a Philosophy class in college, around the “If a tree falls in the forest…” topic. I think the way the philosopher William Fossett puts it is perfect –
“If a tree falls in a park and there is no-one at hand, it is silent and invisible and nameless”
At home or work, in every conversation or interaction we have with someone else, we have the power to make them feel ‘seen’, or not. When you look at it that way, it feels like almost a sacred responsibility. Moving forward, I am going to try to treat it as one. Hope you will join me.
