the internet,
as a visual... A skyscraper packed with people, any person you can fathom! screaming at the tops of their lungs, and everyone is competing to be the loudest.
as is.. A vast universe of anonymity. you have the freedom to rabble about anything you please! It is a chaotic network of communication. to say that it is a collective consciousness deprives this beast of what it is, a grueling battle of individuality! The most mundane of commentary to extremes of the most preposterous imagination, and it is all at your finger tips.
(please click on the links! they are short... and to the point)
I liked your blog, it was short but creative. The links were all really interesting. Good Stuff.
ReplyDeleteI liked your visual, except I don't believe all are screaming to be heard. Some people are just standing there talking aloud not caring who will listen, but talking just for the sake of voicing their opinion. I also enjoyed your links. They were very good evidence to back up your point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah that I feel this is a way people are voicing their opinion or creativity as apposed to screaming to be heard. I do feel that the internet has allowed us to have the expression of peoples individuality at our fingers. The links were very helpful and creative to make your points.
ReplyDeleteI think this has been one of the more informative blogs.
ReplyDeleteI hope Anita can keep up with this! I like the visual elements that are missing from a lot of our other blogs.
I agree with Ed. I enjoyed the visual elements enormously, today the way in which infomation is packaged is dull, can I say it? Tomarrow's internet will be packed with interactive elements that will certainly entertain us as much as inform us.
ReplyDeleteThe focus of the Internet today is a brain centered activity, where we read, reflect, etc. One day perhaps information technology will involve all our senses, so it's not so out there, but more of a human experience.
I enjoyed your metaphor of the skyscraper, but i like to think of the Internet in more fluid terms. The concept of floors (potentially cubicals) delineating where discourse can flow is interesting. The hierarchical structures which allow or disallow information to flow between individuals either enable communication or act like a physical blockade to becoming more informed. regardless, this image was really interesting :)
ReplyDeleteI do however partially disagree with your second paragraph. i tend to think of the information which flows between individuals as being "chaotic" or like a "battle"; i feel that each individual interprets what he or she sees in their own unique and individual way. Therefore, each individual will disseminate and retain knowledge in a completely different way, functionally speaking. I think humans have evolved to program and process information, categorizing everything, and refining perspectives and philosophies for the supposed "betterment" of mankind. Does the Internet offer us a true platform for symposia about this symbiotic world around us? You are right, the information mediated to us is infinitely variable from the most abstract and obscure to the most socially prudent. I think the next generations will really need to think about evaluating, philosophizing, and researching the complex information from their society in better ways than their ancestors have. Great job Anita!
Travis
Love the creativity, Anita!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I see collective consciousness less as a skyscraper where everyone is trying to be heard, and more like a skyscraper where some are shouting and others are chatting casually with people around them. Those chatters may hear something being shouted or discussed among other chatters that is of interest (positive or negative interest), and choose to place themselves on that floor of the skyscraper with the others who are talking about that subject.
I do agree that it is a "vast universe of anonymity", you can choose which parts of yourself to represent "you" on the internet, giving people the ability to talk about what they please how they please.
Totally appreciate the brevity and honesty of your post!