So I feel like I've been getting lost in kind of an interconnected web of ideas as I've been talking with fellow writers about their topics and how they all relate in so many different ways. But It's becoming very interesting, and I've had some very helpful comments and feedback. And I'm starting to hone in on something. Much of these interconnected discussions have been about the conflicts that are raised by new media: regarding its effects on politics, academia, social interactions, and individual identity. But what I would like to suggest is that these conflicts are not new. The digital medium is just that: another medium of expression and communication that we are painting our pre-existing human nature onto. It's making changes in the way the world works, but it's not changing our core nature, or making us less human or less engaged with reality.
The
metaphysical implications of virtual reality were explored before the internet became truly universal (1993, in that hyperlink), and a non-physical world has for ages been something that humans used to introspect and define themselves. The
Iroquois and the Maya used it. Borges' magician in the circular ruins used it, and in doing so, discovered his inherent nature (for better or worse). Like the magician, the protagonist of recent-cultural-phenomenon blockbuster "Avatar" lived in a different world while his body slept, and as a result, arrived at certain conclusions regarding his identity. Maybe we should go and watch this movie with these kinds of things in mind or something. Anybody have plans tonight?
You mentioned that "The digital medium is just that: another medium of expression and communication that we are painting our pre-existing human nature onto. It's making changes in the way the world works, but it's not changing our core nature, or making us less human or less engaged with reality." This article about twitter says a similar thing-that twitter isn't changing us, but that we're changing twitter. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604-1,00.html
ReplyDeleteExcellent, excellent post. I think our topics have a lot of overlap with regard to the metaphysics of technology. James tipped me off to a really good article that ties into your point. http://www.thenextgreatgeneration.com/2010/01/28/online-real-life/ The idea is that, "Our problems with social media seem to derive from the fact that we’re inappropriately treating in-person and virtual communication as entirely different things." This is a good point, but I've decided it's taking it too far to assert that the virtual reality is the same as reality or even the same as metaphysics,because it's still missing the spiritual aspect that you've been talking about so comprehensively. Virtual reality may allow us to form alternate identities, but they'll still be missing the spirituality that is inherent in metaphysics and mayan culture. Right?
ReplyDeletewhat you are talking about with Borges' "magician in the circular ruins" and "living in a different world" while your body sleeps reminds me a lot of the "otherworld," a term I encountered while studying the lays of Marie de France. She wrote a lot of Arthurian Legends, and in those tales (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight might also be one) a knight often falls asleep and/or journeys to a fairy realm that is parallel to but not in the "real" world. Suggesting a connection with "(A)vatar" is really interesting - you could almost point to the otherworld from the beginning of our literature (I bet you bring it out in Beowulf), and and bring it all the way up to the present as with Avatar, which is possibly the most impressive popular attraction in film form we will ever see. It currently has made about twice as much as any other film in history, and will stay that way for a long time. What does that say about our culture's preoccupation with the "otherworld," which in Avatar is told through technology in a very fantastic way.
ReplyDeleteFor more reading on the "otherworld," this book is in the library:
http://catalog.lib.byu.edu/uhtbin/pcnum/2738550%20
and this article talks about "circling as an entrance into the otherworld," which I thought was interesting with your "circular ruins."
http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/stable/1259899?&Search=yes&term=otherworld&list=hide&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dotherworld%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=3&ttl=1602&returnArticleService=showArticle