Philosophy Now Forum

The thread that raised this question seems to have gone, but I still can't help wondering.

When somebody says "here" on an internet forum, what do they mean? What do they think of?
When you read the word, what do you think of?
In cyberland, is "here" a location, an IP address, a state of being, an action.... or what?

Here is nowhere, skip. When we say here we mean NOW. We tend to attribute a spatial extension to our moments NOW but in a physical sense this spatialisation of our temporal experiences has no meaning. As soon as we move into a new moment NOW the "here" of our previous moment has vanished and become a new "here".

Leo, is 'Now' the same everywhere? I mean, spatially, 'here' is where my point of consciousness is and there is somewhere else, perhaps the other side of the universe. In the idea of space there is a separation due to physical distance. But if 'here' is really 'Now', and Now is the same everywhere, there is no separation.

Put another way, where is 'Now'?

Where is Now? is not a valid question Graeme. If our spatial extensions are solely an observer construct, which is incidentally a completely uncontroversial proposition in both mathematical philosophy and in neuroscience, then all physical entities must occupy their own discreet locations in time and this must obtain all the way down to the Planck scale. In fact this has been confirmed time and again by General Relativity but it has been steadfastly ignored because this interpretation cannot be made to comply with Special Relativity, which spatialises time by brute mathematical force.

I like William Gibson's cyberspace.

Skip wrote:The thread that raised this question seems to have gone, but I still can't help wondering.

When somebody says "here" on an internet forum, what do they mean? What do they think of?
When you read the word, what do you think of?
In cyberland, is "here" a location, an IP address, a state of being, an action.... or what?

You lack intuition, why you asking a sub releant question.

Probably because I'm a non-intuitive sub releant entity.
But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm actually here, any more than you aren't.

Skip wrote:Probably because I'm a non-intuitive sub releant entity.

It's probably for the best, skip. Releance has always been an overrated talent.

I had a gut feeling that might be the case.

here is in your ear...

-Imp

Skip wrote:When somebody says "here" on an internet forum, what do they mean? What do they think of?

Depends upon the context, could be here upon the forum or here in my physical location, e.g. town, city, borough, country, etc.

When you read the word, what do you think of?

depends upon the context.

In cyberland, is "here" a location, an IP address, a state of being, an action.... or what?

Depends upon the context.

Fine fine, relevance!

Speaking only for me: 'here' is where I am physically, 'there' is where you are physically.

Even if you and me share a table for a meal (are both 'here' at the table) I will still think of you as being 'there' (even if 'there' is only six inches away).

So, for me, the context of 'here' is constant, is always 'me'.

'Now' is mebbe a little trickier. 'Now' is not the same as 'this instant'. 'Now' has thickness, duration, it encompasses what just happened and what (apparently) is about to happen. 'Now' is informed by memory and projection.

Thus endth my bit of irrelevance...

My 'here' seems almost infinitely expandable.
It can be as precise and tiny as the needle-hole here on my arm (blood test, not self-inflicted) that excludes even the rest of my own body, or extend outward to include the entire lump of flesh here on my chair, then stretch to everything here in my room, and visitors arriving here in my home; garbage collection regimen here in my township, the topography of my region, education standards here in my province, political corruption here in my country, climate change effects here on my continent. Here on Earth, we do things differently than they do on Centauri Prime (though not very differently.)

And, of course, 'here' can be a dimension of existence - being of this world; why are we here?
or a state of consciousness - being in the here-and-now; are you with us?
or a virtual reality - here in the Matrix, there in Narnia

Here is where I am, sitting in my chair artificially extending myself through the internet into a server far, far away which hosts this philosophy forum, writing and reading the usual dribble.