I like to put parameters into Google and have it present me with a question that I might not come up with myself. It allows me to think about things that I might not normally. Today's question is as follows:
“Imagine a new global law mandates that every citizen must publicly wear a digital badge displaying the exact percentage of how much they actually like the person they are currently talking to.
How would your relationships change? Would you avoid people? Would it destroy polite habits in interactions?”
I am not sure that I'm going to answer these questions exactly, because I think the idea behind them is more intriguing. Psychologically, how would that change us? Could it be a positive change? Could it be a negative change? I think it would be an intriguing change.
We would have to become comfortable in our skin. I suppose it could go the exact opposite way considering how daft we can be, but if a generation grew up from the start having that and not being encouraged to ensure that they succeed in popularity, it could possibly be a pretty positive thing. I mean, unless someone is extremely good at acting, we have an instinct of whether a person likes us or not. We ignore it. This would force people to acknowledge it. But it would also allow people to no longer mask. Perhaps it would allow for greater professionalism. Perhaps it would help us become less insecure. Then again it could force more insecurity upon people with this abundant need to be liked that exists today.
Maybe I should answer the questions as opposed to just letting my mind wander off in a million directions like I tend to do. How would it change my relationships? I think it would make my relationships more honest in some cases, but in others I don't think it would change them at all. If anything it might give the person reassurance that, “Hey I actually enjoy your company.” In the ones where the score might be lower than the other person expects I think it would open up that opportunity to talk about why. Perhaps it would make communication better for most people since we tend to avoid those topics. I think most people are afraid of the answers they might receive.
I rather like the idea, since it would grant opportunity for self-growth. I don't like the idea because I think it would further numb our own awareness. Which perhaps brings about another question as we become more technically inclined. What trade-offs are worth trading off? Is easy access to such knowledge worth the loss of an instinctive comprehension? And would it feed our negative or our positive impulses?
For me, any question that is like this is not about the immediate or secondary or third possibilities. I prefer to look long range and then come backwards from the furthest point out that I can think of. We can't know what shifting any one thing is going to cause because there will be elements that come into existence that we never thought of before, and that will have pivotal changes in our course. But we can ponder beyond the immediate as far as risk versus reward goes and try to contemplate and comprehend the shifts across a wide spectrum.
I think one of the things that would probably happen is people would try to place such a thing on animals and then would get upset if their cat or dog doesn't like them in a moment. I wonder if they would take it out on the cat or dog versus figuring out why. People are so poor at figuring out why and trying to communicate and comprehend a different perspective, that I think it could really bring up some issues across a vast majority of people.
Would I avoid people? I already avoid people. 😹 I don't think it'd have an effect on the number of my interactions. Though from a curiosity standpoint, I would possibly engage with more people just to observe the like/dislike perspective. Yes. I can see how I could become amused by that for a short term if I'm being honest with myself. Reactions would likely sway how quickly I got bored. I find constant engagement with people to be exhausting as is. I think it'd be interesting to see the awareness form between perceived likability/popularity and reality in various persons. It'd also be interesting to witness how that factor might shift and affect things. There's a lot of possible parameters involved. It could be interesting to watch the birthing of awareness.
Would it destroy polite interactions and habits? I think it would evolve them. What would be interesting would be if a person were capable of masking well enough to throw off the measurement. If not, networking would become an absolute riot.
The more I think about it, the more options of what could occur flutter through my mind. It would certainly create a very different world than we live in now. Would it be for the better or worse, I do not know. How adaptable are we at that psychological level? Would it evolve our thinking and perception of others and self? Would it increase popularism or force it into extinction? Would everything lay somewhere in between? Would we have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable? It would be a very exciting experiment to run with persons willing to submit themselves to it. Especially when we consider the lie we tell ourselves of how we are being perceived quite often.
I think the question that I would be even more interested in seeing placed and hearing the response to would be if we looked into the mirror would we then get a result of how much we like or dislike ourself? And if that percentage number was accurate, would it encourage us to shift and like ourselves more? Curiouser and curiouser. I would be interested to see how much I like myself. I think I like myself somewhere around 90% or above. There are a few things that I would like to improve upon, but overall I have learned to be someone who I enjoy. I would like to see if that's true or not. Could I be lying to myself? Oh the questions that this brings up.
How about you? What do you think of such an event? And how much do you like yourself? Do you even know? Dun. Dun. Duuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnn...
Written August 1, 2026. © 2026 AnOublietteofThought.
