Difference between revisions of "Michaelstuart\archaic"

Culture shocked and blurred meaning while lost in translation is the only way to describe living virtually unplugged as a digital-social ascetic. It is not that technology is innately abhorrent. Nor is there a substantial difference between old and modern means of long distance communication when they are compared to being physically face to face. But one should not be valued over the other. So if not for these reasons then why live like this? It is difficult to put into words what motivates this abstinence from social-digital-living.

What is obvious is what results from this choice. But first let me clarify what i mean by social-digital-asceticism. Simply i do not use a cell phone, nor facebook, nor mmorpgs. i use nothing that supports social communities or relationships online. Oh and that is ever. That is right: never having text, tweeted, poked, liked or friended anyone at anytime.

If you are starting to shake or sweat don't worry i am not here to convince you of anything. i am only describing what it is to live in the interzone between the physical and the virtual world. But then again this is not really about me. It is in truth about you and your life. Laugh! You exist, i don't. Think how are you going to find me if you can't search for me online? And how are you planning to get to know me if you can't find me? But if you do find me on a search site can you trust what you find? Or would you stop and take time listen to me? Would you trust what i say? Why would you when for others you can decide dispassionately in the comfortable safe isolation of a digital tower where social interaction is mitigated by time and space. No i don't think badly of you. The truth is i wish i could join you. But who i am depends on anonymity.

i live without an identity. Standing outside of time looking into a world where people speak in a language that is not my own. A ghost: i reach out to touch i pass through you unnoticed.

Sometimes i struggle to remember my own name and i look to pieces of paper i seem to carry for this purpose alone. i find myself comparing these pictures to my face in the mirror. How can i be sure this is really me? The only photo of me is the one i carry to remind me of who i am. But in truth i am starting to doubt it is authentic. i have no history nor a record of all my past thoughts, activities and friendships. What can i turn to? To remind me of who i have been? Who should i be? i rely on my memory alone but it is deceptive and so i choose not to remember.

And why do i live like this? There is an old adage: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." i pose to you this: your past influences your present and those with pasts are directly bound to them. Knowing the past is not an insurance that you will not repeat your mistakes. So is it not better to live unhindered by the past; to be free to make choices which do not lead to regret?