http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/theorytheory.html

read it, I implore you….

There are several original blogs out there, some comment on personal experience and are well written and liked by many, so how do I distinguish myself, what can I do that is different or original if you like, and the only answer I have come up with is that I don’t, I might ideas I like to share, but they are not original and does not warrant time spent writing about them, I can use that time to do other stuff. But I don’t. I kill my brain with sitcoms, drama-series and other entertainment.

This is the curse of the web for me, I want to express myself, I want to exist in an online world. Even if it only represents a fraction of me. Today we have more ways of communicating and educating ourselves than ever (I presume) we can participate in a strangers life, get more involved in our friends life’s, so why I am I left with less social satisfaction today  than before, I spend some time on facebook to keep a tally of what my friends are up to, and follow those who use twitter there. This should make me able to communicate with them on a whole new level, but I still feel that it is not enough. To quote a song;

How on earth did I get so jaded 
Life’s mystery seems so faded 

(Soul Asylum – Runaway Train)

Have we reached a level where communication with others on the web is so removed for the actual individual we are trying to communcate with that it seems impersonal. Or are we contempt with passive updates such as “well I know what he/she are up to today, no need to call or speak to them”

Do we spend more time managing our social life online rather than actually participating in it, there are a multitude of tools for sharing our online experience I have mentioned facebook and twitter, then you have services like delicious and a plethora of others. All aimed at somehow sharing our own online experience with others perpetuating the circle.

The counter argument is of course that these services allows us to stay in touch with people regardless of geographical distances, this however have already been accomplished by e-mail, texting. Facebook et.al. however makes it easier to communicate with several people at the same time with out personalizing the message to much thus bringing me back to the argument that in order to communicate with everyone we remove any specific individual meaning other than our own from the message. Typically illustrated by generic status updates on facebook or twitter.

These services have the mechanics of sending messages to a specific person but in using such a service which we associate with mass-communication are we as comfortable with sending personal messages at the same level as say a phone call. Ignoring the fact that while text in all it’s splendor can convey emotions and meaning, is still considered inferior to speaking to someone. Shakespear and Poe can convey meaning, emotions and experience in the individual reading it, but speaking to someone is “there and then” exchange of feeling, emotions and the whole specter of human communication.

Limits of IM communication

(stolen from xkcd)

So what does all this add up to, to be honest I have no idea. All i know is that for better or worse I use the tools available to me, and whether I like it or not it is the reality of the all encompassing communication world that we have today. We choose to participate, we choose how to use these tools. A wise man once said that you cannot speak or try to communicate with everyone, facing one way you will invariably turn your back to half the world. 

I seem to have strayed from my orginal thoughts here, apologies, but there it is.

The difference from yesterday till today is no more that 24 hours, we will face the same problems, fears and joys tomorrow as we did yesterday, unless we do something to resolve them. The magic of new years eve is de-bunked, it is however a nice celebration of the year past, which is it’s intention I believe. However somehow new years resolutions came into play, promises that we make ourselves that this year I shall do this and that. The problem with this is that sometimes we set ourselves up for disappointment, or we set irrational goals. Someone once said that we aim above the mark so that we hit it, this might be true to some extent. But if we allow ourselves to set such a high goal or task that it discourages us from even attempting to try and reach it, it becomes counterproductive. Do this enough times and you will lose faith in your ability to change or accomplish the tasks you set before you. This is true of any aspirations you might hold.

You should never set a goal for yourself unless you wish so, a new years resolution is something that is somehow expected of you, so set a small one, one that can be accomplished in lets say a week, lets say “Next week I will have a beer with a friend.” This way you will have easily accomplished it and can move on to other tasks or goals you set for yourself, and do so at your own pace. Without the hassle of everyone wanting to know what your new years resolution was.

After a lavish meal, in which there was a fair few interruptions by my younger siblings, it was time for their big moment of the evening.. the opening of gifts. Now I did not have any great expectations for these presents as they are from relatives. The ones I look forward to, those from my friends are back in my apartment eagerly awaiting my return. 

Now after opening all the presents I have no less then 3 sets with shampoo and aftershave, two sets of towels and other assorted toiletries. As does my brother…. so either there is a consensus amongst relatives that me and my brother needs to shower more, or they went for the easy and fail-safe option. Nothing wrong with that, but…. as Tom Lehrer puts it “Sentiment will not endear it, what’s important is the price.” The thing is, I don’t mind these presents, but at some point when I have gotten the same thing 3,4,5,6 times in a row they might as well spend the money, energy and time in buying someone else a better present I really don’t mind. 

Now I still do enjoy christmas, but in this area I must say I think I have matured somewhat, I still watch the early morning cartoons and such, but the presents doesn’t give me the same thrill as it used to when I was a child. Maybe the shampoo has gone to my head ?