internet and identity: feeding a spider on his web

my application to this: http://2011.northernvoice.ca/

Abstract:

Our identities are understood with respect to interactions and expressions. Access to the internet offers us a plethora of new outlets of expression and interaction. On the variety of sites that allow us to express our selves, how should we conceptualize the identities of those we interact with and how should we best express ourselves? Considering the various online outlets of expression and their impact on interpersonal communication, this talk will establish a reasonable account of how to best interpret online expression in conceptualizing the identity of self and others.

Bio:

I'm a junior at the University of Richmond double majoring in Cognitive Science and Philosophy. I play club lacrosse here and am on the cabinet for the class of 2012. This semester I started a student organization called the UR SERVANTS - University of Richmond Students Establishing Reasonable and Visionary Advancements Necessary for Technological Societies. We think about society's dependence on technology and consider future implications of current and past technological progress. We also volunteer in the community. I do research in a cognitive science lab studying how our perceptual systems tend to learn patterns for attending to math problems. I also do research in a cognitive neuroscience lab using an electroencephalogram to study the neural correlates of object recognition. What I most care about is how people use technology and learn to rely on it over time and especially how this affects the way they think.

time

i see you

you see me

what you see is what will be

your view on my identity

one encounter leaves a mark

it could even light a spark

to learn a face

a simple task

but to learn a name

and make it last

to know someone

their personhood

represented by a word

what's a name do

on this earth

in the mind it represents

a being's being

not their worth

just what it has been

ever since birth

or since creation

coming to be

names hold the place

of concepts formed

experientally

over time we learn to know

not things in essence

but things indeed

their impact on our sensory

perceptual facilities

only knowing what we see

what we feel and what we be

what we hear and what we fear

time allows concepts to form

given a name we know a storm

katrina first was impending

days later the storm ended

but weeks and months and even years

passed with many many tears

and now katrina represents

more than just the coming storm

concepts form and concepts change

in a day a name can range

meaning can become quite strange

what is time to a mind

never able to rewind

the force that lies behind

all we know of any kind

this is cheating

i wrote this for two amazing people over a month ago, but it's stuff that's been on my mind and i thought it'd probably be better to post up here so as to keep it with all of my thoughts. so really just thanks r & s for being my inspiration : )

God is the ultimate force behind all existence. I feel like living a life for God..for Goodness..for Truth..will bring fulfillment and happiness in life. I can't imagine afterlife. My conception of myself is reliant on my body..my physical existence. It would be nice if there were some explanation for how a soul could transcend its body and instantiate itself free of neural organization. I don't see how I would be the same individual in death as I am in life. I am my brain and body so i feel like I will be no more once my brain and body are no longer functioning. Maybe there is some sort of bliss in death that comes as a reward for living a fulfilling life. Maybe somehow our individuality perpetuates in death and we still have memories from life on earth. I just don't know enough. I feel God does have a goal though. In my opinion, God is purposeful existence. What is the purpose? I guess that is yet unknown.. I feel that God is guiding the collective knowledge of man to a point of complete understanding of Nature. Every physical interaction has a purpose and plays a role in shaping humanity and the future of the natural universe. I feel like the only way that we can really think of our identities being eternalized is by leaving a substantial footprint on the progress of humanity and society. As long as there is an existing conception of your identity in some mind, you exist in some shape or form even if you die. the essential youness won't exist (at least like physically) without your brain and body, but like Jesus and Socrates, if you have a significant impact on humanity, your life will not be forgotten and the concept of you will live on. This is kind of depressing though because so many people have significant impacts on the immediate lives of many, but their memory doesn't survive through multiple generations. I want to believe that there is a heaven, but I can't imagine the reality of it other than just pure bliss free of all worldly cares. I look to God for guidance almost daily. I respect the fact that I am a part of God's existence and that he is the causal force behind all interaction. i hope that by following signs and instincts, i will be led down the path that God finds best suited. Love is key and I am not stingy with sharing mine. I think that reciprocal emotion and communication through emotional expression are both major factors in establishing true comfortable relationships in which both parties understand each others' perspective. that's why holding back emotions when with friends or family is counterproductive. If you want to have a comfortable understanding relationship with someone you've obviously got to open up. I like to call this sharing my God-love. It's like the emotional connection between people..or more that people have with one another and with other physical objects.

So basically that's where i'm at. I don't go to church or read the bible. I have one good friend - my suitemate from first semester last year who got arrested for multiple drug felonies last winter - who has found God and had an experience that he can't put into words. He is now clean as a whistle and living his life for God. He's invited me to Gospel and bible study a few times, but I'm just so busy that I can't make it. I went once just to support him as he told his story of finding God and turning his life around. It's apparent that God is making moves in the lives of those I love and if I really consider my life, I'd say that he is speaking to me through myself and my experiences as well.

my christianity

i'm all about family. the best way for me to think of spirituality is in the context of family.

we are all the children of god. i like to think of god as the father and nature as the mother..mother nature. the analogy works out fine. Although normally..when not thinking religiously, i think of god and nature as synonymous. which is cool because in christianity, marriage unites two beings into one. But in this relationship, as sometimes we might think of the mother providing the order around the house and the father provides the means of life support for the family, i think of god as being the energy and substance that interacts with the order of the laws of nature bringing about existence of the family of beings. i use this analogy only because it is the type of structure that i am most familiar with. plus i sort of feel that god gives us new opportunities for religious thinking in order for us to relate with him best in contexts that we're familiar with. and that's why there are so many different religions. God wants all of his people to live for him and understand his plan to work for the ultimate good. so in different cultures there are different religions because god interacted with people of those cultures to establish structure to lead to the ultimate good of that culture. problems have arisen now as the world has become smaller and religious beliefs (which have taken on meanings god never intended) interfere with one another. The point of god is goodness and the point of religions is to help us understand what goodness is and how we should act in order to achieve it.

so god's family and christianity.. Jesus was real. He is the ultimate big brother. While you all reading this are my brothers and sister (some big and some little), jesus was the perfect brother who did exactly as god would do. he was abel and the jews who couldn't stand him in his life were cain. ah biblical reference. he was just too perfect for them to tolerate.

in a family, there is this idea of unconditional love. you love your family just because..independent of their actions. sometimes actions stand in the way of a good relationship between family members, but in a loving family, familial love is stronger than any disruptive actions. the love remains. we have got to think of existence as familial. and god and nature as the single parent soul leading this family in love. so although we may not have good relationships with people, we should still love them. there are different levels of love, but among all things there should be the essential familial love of ultimate existence in god's family.

jesus loved all. in families, some members get along better with others because their personalities are more in tune. all the members love each other, but some people have more similar views and interests than others. the great thing about families is that everyone accepts one another for who they are. Unless one attribute or tendency of a member is extremely detrimental to the well-being of the family as a whole, members of a family are going to let each other be as they are. It's all about respect for the personhood of one another.

this is how we should love here on earth today. wwjd. jesus loves. we should too. who cares about difference of opinion. we don't have to get along to get along. as long as we all are working for the greatest good love should guide us to happiness.