Reading 04.2 amazed me for Vannevar Bush’s ability in 1945, to imagine a totally fantastical and likely preposterous (for the time) point of advancement of the humble camera, and yet without ever considering the then unheard of digital possibilities. It is incredible to think that someone could look so far ahead, considering and rectifying every possible technical impediment, without ever considering any other potential for digital possibility. It makes me wonder how far along the process of invention we must currently sit, and whether there is potential for some new, unimaginable dimension or way of thinking that will revolutionise our day to day lives.

Reading 04.3 reminded me of not only the endless positive potential of the Internet, but also of its dangers. Working in the youth sector part time, I am often witness to tales of cyber bullying, online harassment and exactly how easy it is to be somebody you’re not online. Being somebody you’re not online ranges from extremes as with the case of Michael Campbell, to 16 year old girls who present an image of themselves online so far removed from reality that they begin to get confused between which version of themselves is the truth, their day to day life or the characters they portray online.

It also reminded me of that website Second Life, where grown men and women have affairs, gamble their life savings and even take drugs through an online platform. What is the difference between a physical affair and one conducted online? Is the former really that much worse than the latter? Each represent a disconnect from reality, a checking out of commitment, and a need to distract from the mundanity of day to day existence. In a way, I find a physical affair is easier to understand, for its need to fulfil a carnal desire, rather than a fabricated, 2-Dimensional experience, a love affair with a screen.

Much like that film Knocked Up, where a woman is convinced her husband is cheating on her, only to find he is secretly part of a Fantasy Baseball league. How can these flawed attempts to replicate reality possibly come to fill the holes represented by the real thing?

The idea of talking to somebody I don’t know very well on a platform such as Facebook Chat makes me nervous. How do I convey tone, sense of humour, how much attention I’m paying, body language etc. etc. through text in a box? I don’t know how to put myself through the screen, to transport my body and my voice and my opinions through my screen, through the links and nodes and intricate networks of the Internet and present myself on somebody else’s. I have not mastered how to communicate with somebody when I cannot see their reaction, cannot read their eyes or listen to their laughter, watch their brain tick over as they come up with a response.

So while the Internet fascinates and excites and empowers with each new advancement, I also worry like many before me for the fate of human interaction.

To Be Continued, and hashed out properly…