If you could pick any fictional animal to be your lifelong companion (like a Pokémon or fantasy pet), what would it be?
I would not choose any fictional animal or character as my companion — not for a day, let alone a lifetime.
To me, companionship is a lifelong bond between two people, or between a person and a pet. Apart from blood ties, every relationship is built on knowledge, love, and trust. I once had a real animal — Sheena — as my lifelong companion. Her passing does not end that bond: one dog to me, one owner to her.
Traditionally, we rarely formed relationships with machines or fictional characters. Today, many people keep AI friends, bond intimately with illusionary figures in video games, or feel deep attachment to beloved cartoon characters — let alone fictional animals. Why do people seek companionship in imaginary worlds?
Today, I visited a patient in her late teens. I asked three times how she wished to be addressed; she did not say a word. She seemed uneasy with my presence. In ten minutes, she uttered only three short sentences: “I don’t know.” “I only read and communicate on screen.” “You go to someone else.” Her voice was tender yet timid; her eyes stayed on her smartphone, with only a split second of eye contact. I suspect she may have haphephobia — a fear of physical contact with any person.
Sadly, this patient is not merely hearsay. She bears witness to those who feel safe only with digital friends or figures from fictional worlds. The virtual world is their reality — “friends inside the screen, threats outside” — a worrying trend across the globe.
As I ponder deeper in meditation, I cannot help asking: Are digital relationships, or fictional companionships, no longer illusionary?
May the lines below offer food for thought on the future destiny of humanity.
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All — Void or Real?
Virtual world, the networked tide,
Virtual life, never step outside.
Virtual pretense — all is void.
Virtual friends, virtual affection,
Virtual feelings, come and go — all void.
Internet celebrities, like water off a duck’s back.
Virtual legacy, inheriting the virtual,
Smart gurus, rootless and baseless.
The virtual stands unbroken, so the world stands undestroyed.
AI won’t destroy — the one who destroys the world is man.
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And yet a sharper question lingers: if the virtual can satisfy the need for companionship, was the need ever for companionship — or only for the feeling of it?
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en yan hua fang 