Will the coronavirus make permanent our diminishing need for human contact?

SEOUL, South Korea - Before dawn, bags of groceries ordered online are plopped at my front door by deliverymen (-women?) whose faces I'll never see.

I summon taxis on my smartphone, rendering unnecessary even the brief conversation to give the driver my destination or discuss an optimal route. All manners of food - from steaming stews to sushi to the seemingly most ephemeral of dishes, shaved ice - can be ordered for delivery within the hour. If I so choose, I can avoid even a split-second of face time by requesting, in an app, that the food be left outside my door.

In Seoul, one of the most densely packed metropolises in the world, I can glide through a day dining out, shopping and even singing