Philosophy Now Forum

Sometimes I can’t help wondering about the actual people behind the avatar and screen name. We know it’s a bad idea to let our real identity be known on-line but there’s nothing stopping us from being open about who we are in the broader sense. Conversely, there’s also nothing stopping us from being whoever or whatever we want to be. On this forum, for example, there will probably be those who are completely themselves, while there will be others who adopt the persona of the fantasy character they would like to be. Many of the possibilities that lie between the two will most likely also be present. I’m sure that in their actual, everyday lives, there are some people who are not completely satisfied with who or what they are and I wondered if being able to get on the internet and “be” the person they wish they could be in the real world is a usefully therapeutic activity. Is it a psychologically heathy thing to do?

Interesting. Though I wonder if people who want to live a fantasy life would do it on a forum like this.

sthitapragya wrote:Interesting. Though I wonder if people who want to live a fantasy life would do it on a forum like this.

I'm not talking about living a fantasy life, I was thinking more in terms of wearing the personality of the person they would like to be but are not able to be in their daily life. Also, courtesy of Google, people can appear to be far more knowledgeable than they actually are.

I can't even imagine pretending to be someone I'm not. My lifelong investment in this current manifestation has given me a lot of "material" to work with. I'd rather explore and expand that, than pretend to be some divinely inspired hoohaw above all questioning... as so MANY seem to do.

Hopefully, Harbal, I'm not straying too much from your topic.

I've wondered if most on-line personalities match the in-person personalities? Maybe I seem mean online... but I'm not in person. My friends would probably describe me as thoughtful and intelligent, but very kind and sweet. I think the shock (for me) of seeing such extremist attitudes and claims commonly revealed in online discussions brings out another side of me. (In person, I would walk away because of the energy usually associated with such things.) Online, with a buffer protecting me somewhat, such things sometimes seem too absurd and horrific to go unchallenged. Unfortunately though, people in such states do not respond to challenges. They dance around insanely to divert attention onto other areas of their madness. It's hard to imagine them being like that in person. Do we all bring our intensity online?

Harbal wrote:

sthitapragya wrote:Interesting. Though I wonder if people who want to live a fantasy life would do it on a forum like this.

I'm not talking about living a fantasy life, I was thinking more in terms of wearing the personality of the person they would like to be but are not able to be in their daily life. Also, courtesy of Google, people can appear to be far more knowledgeable than they actually are.

Well, again in a place like this where your mind is tested, sooner or later, the replies kind of give away the personality. So you are right, people might come here wearing a personality but I don't think in the longer run people can appear to be far more knowledgeable than they actually are. There might be some exceptions but the replies will generally tell you how much they actually know and how much they are parroting. Then there is the added advantage of other people's responses too. If I have an opinion of someone, for example, you might confirm it by your responses to that person. I would in fact go the other way and say that a forum like this is where your original personality will inevitably come through simply because of the kind of provocation you face here.

I'm seeing a merging of my online personality with my daily one. If anything, I'm more 'philosophically aggressive' in daily life than I was, so my online self is spilling over into daily life.

I try to honestly say what I think, know, and feel on line, while I am more reserved in a face to face encounter. There are several reasons, one is that I hesitate to hurt another persons feelings, and also I do not want to start an argument, so I let things go that I might challenge on line. On a forum I can hide behind the anonymity of the internet, and post ideas that I would hesitate to express out loud in a face to face encounter. Also it is easier to just stop posting on the internet, in a face to face it is sometimes more difficult to just walk away, especially if the other person is in your own home.

One of the reasons that I post on a forum is to refine my ideas and concepts, it usually doesn't take long to determine whether another poster has really comprehended what you have posted or not. And then you can decide how best to reply to that post, if you reply at all. Sometimes you just ignore the irrelevant comments and go on to those that are to the point. If a criticism is relevant I will consider it and perhaps change my concepts, in whole or in detail.

Hello. As near as I tell, real-world or on-line there comes a time when the body and mind moves only for what must be done. This isn’t an arbitrary choice. This is because attention is absorbed in awareness, rather than awareness-of, and that too is not a choice.

I think this condition likely happens to everyone sooner or later. For some it happens moments before the last exhalation, for others it happens sooner.

And while this may seem vague, it is actually the crux of the everything from which philosophy is a conceptual subset. For this reason.

Out of habit attention goes to awareness-of, like a crow to a shiny gum wrapper. To duality. To subject/object conceptual differentiation. (You get the drift.) And this is a good habit. It keeps the body alive but it does not deserve the all of attention. Call this habit ego.

Once that habit is broken … the how and why is another topic … but once that habit is broken, the routine of life receives a sort of basal attention. Like driving a car. Life is lived like driving a car. Every necessary detail is considered and integrated within the microseconds of motion, effortlessly, as it happens. You see? This is all necessary.

You'd be surprised how much and how little actually needs to be done.

Right now, near as I can tell, any need to continue the thread will become obvious.

Walker wrote:And while this may seem vague, it is actually the crux of the everything from which philosophy is a conceptual subset.

Walker wrote:You'd be surprised how much and how little actually needs to be done.

Walker wrote:Right now, near as I can tell, any need to continue the thread will become obvious.

Oh, good for you for identifying the obvious that must surely apply to all.

I see the name “Lacewing,”

but my mind hears “Tootsie.”

Don’t really know why

but it makes me smile.

*

This makes me smile, like Harbal’s avatar.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html

Dalek Prime wrote:I'm seeing a merging of my online personality with my daily one. If anything, I'm more 'philosophically aggressive' in daily life than I was, so my online self is spilling over into daily life.

I have a similar experience. My mild-mannered, stuttering, bashful walking self is slowly morphing into.... Harbal!

Walker wrote:I see the name “Lacewing,”

but my mind hears “Tootsie.”

Don’t really know why

but it makes me smile.

I see the name "Walker"

and think, "Oh great, more convoluted blabbing of madness and nonsense masquerading as if it were some kind of unique wisdom."

I skip over the post without reading further

and that makes me smile.

I am what I am in-person, on-line, asleep, alone, in the company of others, flu-fevered, drunk, stone-cold sober, etc.

I am 'me' in all circumstances, across all environments.

Huzzah and Hallelujah.

Dalek Prime wrote:I'm seeing a merging of my online personality with my daily one. If anything, I'm more 'philosophically aggressive' in daily life than I was, so my online self is spilling over into daily life.

Me too, to some degree. Not so much in my typical day-to-day interactions... but when people are being shockingly unrealistic or rude -- especially over the phone -- I'm much braver in calling it out to them. And there have been times when I've been almost too frustrated to speak, and I've thought, "What would Harbal say in this situation?"

Lacewing wrote:I see the name "Walker"

and think, "Oh great, more convoluted blabbing of madness and nonsense masquerading as if it were some kind of unique wisdom."

I skip over the post without reading further

and that makes me smile.

I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam.