The new stage of consciousness.

Look around you. We've had the web around in wide spread usage for almost 10 years now. How has life changed? Let's fast forward the clock about 30 years. Most of the people I know will be in their 60's and 70's. How much will the Net be in your life? I imagine some people while bed ridden, the web will be their only form of communication. You're stuck in your home or an assisted living facility, all permanently plugged into a computer, where you are keeping your mind active, learning and communicating with peers. Is that the future for us?


Almost all of us do updates on Facebook, or Twitter. Social networking is connecting most of us faster, and faster. However, is that a good thing? I am a little bit of an idealist. I believe that ultimately the net can be used to do some real good in the world. For every crappy pop idol that is fake and horrible, there is a young man struggling with sexuality in a very intolerant and isolated community and the web is where they find their safety valve. The web and networking has a way of relating things to people and communicating with these people. Which ultimately is good. If through the web, we can get news out of countries with fascist control over the media, it's a good thing in my book.

However, there is the bad. Pornography is at an all time high because of the web. There are people who are intolerant and dangerous finding each other. Also, there's the nerdcore crowd. This is something that I fight on a daily basis. I've had some pretty strong feelings that I have voiced about nerds in the past. Because, they take things to the extreme. For example, when World of Warcraft was at it's peak with 12 million plus members, the nerds that I knew would sometimes not bathe before coming into work. Their personal relationships would suffer and they couldn't communicate with others not existing in that world. Note, this is the extreme of people who play WoW.

Also, there is a huge amount of negativity that comes from the web and the nerdcores as a whole. Because of the level at which information is accumulated and gathered, many people who are frequent users get pulled into this sense that you know everything and that you have the answers, and quite frankly people believe what the read on the Internet way too much. Because of this public forum, they think they are all appointed masters of particular subjects, and overrate their own opinion and think that people need to hear it. Such things as conversational tact and common courtesy are thrown out the window. In short, they lose complete objectivity with the world.

I used to spend quite a bit of time on the web while at work, I would view news stories and read posting by people on the web, and what I determined is that it is a magnifier of the chasm that exists in society. Anyone to harp and be critical can easily get on something, rip it and belittle it, and detach themselves, because it's an "on-line identity". I review my actions thoughts and feelings for the past couple of months, and decided that this ego trap, that is the web is responsible for quite a bit of the unhappiness and contention that I feel. So, I've limited my usage, and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The jury is still out on that.

To anyone reading this article, or post on Facebook, How do you feel? Has the web become it's own society? Is it good or bad? What do you think that outlook is for the future of the web? Personally, I think that society is changing because the web, and we should talk and open dialogues about what we should post or say on the web? Give your thoughts and opinions...I'd love to hear them.

Fear and loathing...

Alright, I've been away for a while, but decided to bust out the old blog again to talk, and get my outlet. There's an amazing psychological paradigm that warrants some attention. That is, how much that even sub-cultures, can even be detested by the participants. Let me put it this way.
I once had a friend who was really into martial arts. This one time he told me, "You know Terence, I like martial arts, but usually hate all the guys that DO martial arts." This brought about quite the conversation topic. This then brings into conversation that we shouldn't define everything by a sub-culture. Even that definitions by and large are almost useless.

Now, anyone who has taken psychology knows that stereotypes are actually how we organize psychological information. However, we should never define people by such definitions.
Just as my friend feels about martial arts, I feel about nerds and the Internet culture. I know about computers and all that stuff, but I really hate almost all of the people involved in it. It comes about because of this. While I'm just bored and commenting on stuff on Facebook. A friend of busts out and calls me a nerd. Honestly, I was offended. Mostly, it's because of this. The following is a link off Digg (A popular Internet filter/social networking site).



http://digg.com/other_sports/Allison_Stokke_the_Hottest_Athlete_Google_it?OTC-wsli

Now, the average person who follows Digg is pretty much what I call, "nerdcore". They're the stereotypical nerd. The person who's got no social skills, plays Dungeons and Dragons, and gets no women. The sad, VERY sad thing, is that the article in question is talking about a young athlete who when she was in High School, a picture was taken of her and it was posted on the web. She was then hounded, which Internet sensations usually are, to the point where she lives in relative isolation. She even spoke with her father, who is a lawyer to see if they could get the publicity to stop. Now, take a look at the comments. After even linking the article talking about her own problems with Internet nerdom, the nerds are only talking about how hot she is. The first page of comments is just about her looks, and masturbation references, and the whole 9 yards.

So, when someone calls me a "nerd", I do take offense because it reminds me of these same assholes commenting on this poor girls looks, while she detests those said people. When it boils down to it, I'm not a nerd. If I had my choice, I'd not spend any time at a computer. I always spend the bulk of my time watching sports or doing social things, playing poker, etc. Also, I work with nerds, and all of their conversation topics, their tendencies, and their mannerisms bug me.

The ugly truth is that no one wants to spend time with a nerd as well. I have a good looking friend that I work with, and the nerds won't leave her alone. Those nerds who's got the backbone are awkward and unfunny people. According to her, "The attention is flattering, but too much."

There in lies the conundrum. There has to be a little bit of self loathing for certain people within a sub-culture. Also, everyone is in some kind of sub-culture, whether that be religion, sexual orientation, or hobbies. Everyone is with in one. Does everyone have to like it? I think not.