EM.Forster - The Machine Stops - intuition about future social media and interconnected devices.

Telepresence and communication devices increase the doubt about reality, everything is virtual and flat - is it the real world? Or perhaps we are even a brain in a vat? This stems from the western view on perception, based on Descartes. Discoveries of the Late 16th and Early 17th century like the Microscope and Telescope influenced Descartes's doubt.