Comments on: Are We Losing Ourselves In Cyberspace?

By: JJ (:

JJ (: — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:13:10 +0000

I completely agree…we’ve become so used to the high-tech and digital age that we often lose sight of the real and simple things that used to be ‘good’. Things such as doing something the hard way, as with manual labor, and feeling a sense of accomplishment afterwards. You don’t get to truly experience things on a plastic screen as you would out there in the real world.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:04:57 +0000

These comments are great! It seems everyone has a slightly different view yet the common theme seems to be “balance”. Thanks for your insight on this and keep them coming!

By: Ed Healy

Ed Healy — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:41:41 +0000

When I’ve worked from a home office, for an extended period of time, I sometimes ran into these same feelings. At times, I would go days without leaving the house – without interacting with anyone but my immediate family.

However, a similar thing happened to me while working for a public accounting firm. 14-hour days, 7-day work weeks… At some point you finally get to each dinner with your family and realize you haven’t seen them in a month.

It’s all about balance.

By: Alexandra Popovic

Alexandra Popovic — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:54:08 +0000

I’ve only just entered the blogosphere and joined the social media circus and already feel I’m getting too obsessive!

As much as I love them, they can be time-suckers taking me away from LIVING and physically enjoying the here and now. So, I’ve decided I’m going to force myself to cut back as much for my sake as for my family’s. I have 3 small kids and I always wanted to be handson parent, not fobbing them off with “not now honey, mum’s “working” on the computer!” What sort of role model is that? Time to get our priorities straight!

Alex

By: thePuck

thePuck — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:16:09 +0000

@gregorylent
While that sounds very nice and mystical, I have to point out that the difference between our virtual world and the world of mystical experience in our minds is that the former is inter-subjective, therefore of use to all of us, while the latter is purely subjective, thus only of benefit or detriment to the individual.

Thanks for the comment!

By: gregorylent

gregorylent — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:42:36 +0000

you CAN surf the internet in your mind .. maybe not the one on your screen here, but the one that the internet is based on is clearly available to the mind.

what do i mean? that technology is the out-picturing of consciousness, it is what the mind can already do. the literature of yoga is filled with the powers of mind. technology is for laggards!

so your impulse to do it all with your mind is totally appropriate.

and it is where all this tech is going anyway, global omniscience.

enjoy, gregory lent

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:56:17 +0000

AnitaK: I had not really thought about that but I think that I too have become more impatient with other IRL. It is so easy to click out online and it takes much more finesse to do that in person!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:25:04 +0000

I can see why you would feel that way “old fashioned thinking”. Don’t get me wrong, I make a living on the internet and couldn’t live without it. I think the point you made about the people from your outside world join you in your cyber world is where our difference lies. Among my friends, I am the only one engrossed in the Internet. I have not been able to combine the two worlds unfortunately so they are both very different. I believe that more people are like you and are able to make the best of both.

By: XIII

XIII — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:16:28 +0000

Isn’t that just old fashioned thinking? ‘The internet’ is bad, it’s not real, that line of thought? Personally I’ve flipped it around, merged it and interwoven anything and everything that goes on online and in the real world. People I meet outside get added to my social networks and invited to my site. People I’ve met through my site I’ve gone and met, and even married.
Why the segregation?

By: AnitaK

AnitaK — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:59 +0000

I often do wonder this.
-Would it be better for me to go to an RCGA meeting or to network online?
-How does my day manage to pass with seemingly little done?
or the best
_gad, I can’t wait to get outta here and away from so-and-so to go check my Plurk!

I try to keep in mind that the folks I “know” through SM are more like acquaintances than BFF. They are my co-workers during my solo days in the home office, and for many, I really do care that their day and their life is going well.

The nice thing about online is I can “turn-off” the annoying ones, but this makes me less patient with annoying folks IRL. I fear that if I ever end up back in a RL workspace, I may have trouble adjusting.

AnitaKs last blog post..Challenge #8: Every Watt Counts