People, in a natural sense, tend to compare each other, which makes them feel superior or inferior in their community. In the modern world, it is quite a subconscious thing that happens because of social media influence. These platforms are a virtual reflection of our world in which we exist by curating an image of ourselves we want the public to perceive (regardless if it was completely false or completely true). What makes this comparison unhealthy would be the infinite numbers of times we compare ourselves to others, our virtual self to our real self, and the time frame in which we make these comparisons, which is usually very short. This mode of comparison is not new for this is a natural behavior we exhibit in our daily lives even off social media. For example the way we dress is a method of presenting oneself to the public. we compare how we dress to how others dress and we would be a point of comparison in someone else point of view. As Madanipour said in his book “Public and Private Spaces of the city”:
The differentiation between the different sides of a property is one of the main tools for defining the character of the public and private spheres. Whereas the front of the house, for example, provides a public face for the inhabitants, the back of the house may be its less desirable, more private façade, where the quality of material is inferior, rubbish bins are kept, and in the past, the coal was kept or the horses passed through. On the contrary, the public face of the building has the best building materials and quality of craft, and is kept cleaner and for more general purposes. (Madanipour, 2003)
Even our houses project an image about us in the public world. This also could influence how we socialize with people and how people react to us in return.
What’s the difference between virtual and real comparison?
When people interact among each other, and come across a person with very good qualities, they are likely to feel two things, joy and interest or intimidation. Both emotions however are based on comparison. If this person with great traits_lets call him person A_is slightly better than the person he is conversing with_lets call him person B_in the eyes of person B, then B is likely to feel interested in what A is saying and what he can benefit from the conversation. If person A_is MUCH better than the person he is conversing with_lets call him person C_in the eyes of person C, then C is much likely going to feel intimidated as a result. And when people interact with divine, they tend to exploit it. In this sense, C will try to find flaws and faults in A to decrease the gap C perceived between them. Architecture in the same sense is subject to comparison, and to exploit a very good looking house, one must look at it from the back, a place were we as bystanders were not intended to see.
Architics 