The costs of being embodied in a virtual world

I recently read a great article from the BBC on why video calls are so exhausting for so many people. It lists a number of physical and psychological mechanisms in which video conferencing seems to go against our nature, our needs, and the fundamental way we are wired. The truth seems to be that trying to pursue Community and connection via virtual electronic surrogates is bound to fail at a basic level, and have high costs on people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is true no matter what lens you look at humans through: 

You can look at human nature biologically, as physical creatures who are the result of 2 billion years of evolving to be in active physical feedback loops with other creatures, not passively sitting for hours at a time. You can look at human nature sociologically, as social systems that adapt and change as individuals are in tangible relationships with each other. You can look at human nature psychologically, as a set of adaptive patterns and drives that are based on real-time stimulus cues and body language from other humans. Or you can look at human nature theologically, as embodied beings who were created by a relational God of Love to be in embodied relationships with other persons, sharing the Divine Love that is incarnated and embodied in Jesus Christ. No matter how you view human nature, we were made for embodied relationships, and thus virtual surrogates (such as Zoom or other video conferencing) will always drain us and cost us. 

There seem to be only two lenses through which virtual relationships are useful: First, they can be a least-bad option for connecting relationally when all other normal physical means are cut off (such as social distancing during a pandemic). Second, they can be used when the production of a product is more important than the physical or mental health of the people who produce that product. That might sound harsh, but it is true. And sometimes a product is worth that price: For instance, designing a crisis response to a pandemic when people cannot meet face to face, or doing telemedicine for patients who cannot physically get to a doctor. So when we are putting people on Zoom calls to create a product-- be that an educational assignment, a business plan, a group project, or a community meeting-- we need to be asking whether the product is worth the human cost, and whether there is a more human way to produce this product within the limitations of our situation.