> > I am wondering how representative is the World Wide Web of what
> > exists in the Real World? Do you think that the way that people
> > behave in that medium is representative of their behavior in real life?
> >
> Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
> Well, I'm rather quiet and shy in person. Does that give you
> an idea? :)
He's not kidding, list. He *really is* that way in the flesh. {8^D
I never woulda guessed.
> More specifically, my experience on the net (15+ years) confirms
> the idea that people's behavior interacting with others is very
> strongly shaped by the medium in which they they interact.
Ja. I think people use the web as a great mindscape in which to
live out one's fantasy life. It is a better medium than any I can imagine:
its perfectly safe, it costs little or nothing, the emotional investment
in any online relationship is a big goose egg, so anyone can walk
away from one effortlessly. One can be anything one wants, without
consequence. One can create persona, destroy same, all *completely*
without consequence! What other area of life allows such freedom?
And while I am on this topic, what other medium *allows* such
perfect honesty? Think about that: where else can you share
with others *exactly who you are* and what is *really* inside
you? I reveal to internet friends stuff that I would be reluctant to
tell my very best life companions, and consequently, it allows us
to better know ourselves. We actually spend time trying to search
out and understand disconnected fragments of bio-code that wander
around in our brains, out of context but in there just the same.
The internet and the w^3 represent the greatest breakthru in
human understanding and self knowledge ever invented.
I have wandered far from Amara's original post that was about
the fact that people take advantage of those who generously
offer themselves. This applies all areas of life, not just the web.
Amara, I speak for all of us: we hope you will continue to post
occasionally on extropians, and we understand your disillusionment.
You are among our most valuable players. spike
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