I think it is obvious that when people can hide their identity, they will do things they normally would not do. Often times I find myself doing embarrassing actions in public, but not really caring because nobody knows who I am. Conversely, had I been in a room with people who are always with me, then I probably would feel more embarrassed.
This distinction is obvious. When we are worried about our reputation and "ruining our names" then we are extra aware of the people who around us who may know us. If we are convinced that people don't know us, then we feel comfortable doing things we normally wouldn't do.
However, I think there is more to this than just inconsequential things. For example, one of the interesting things about Youtube is that the people who comment do so anonymously. They can say whatever they want no matter how prejudice or hateful. Since there are no consequences to their actions, they can be outright rude to others without having to worry about ruining their own reputation. (Compare to Facebook where the people who right on your wall are identifiable and therefore accountable)
I think also, this could be applied to crime in general and to more broader social settings. Think about the New York subway for a moment. Plenty people graffiti and trash the subway system. However what if people were identinfied as having been on a certain car at a certain time. Each person could hold a radio emitting ID card that could identify them. Then each car can scan for the IDs and people will be linked to the cars that they are on. In other words, you can only ride the subway if you identify who you are. And once you do that, then you are less likely to commit a crime. (The problem would be if someone lost their Id card...but then they should cancel it ASAP like a credit card)
If people are identified in real life (and online) then I am convinced that a lot of the information on the internet would be more trustworthy and the slander will be limited - because people will only want to communicate with people who they can trust and with people who do not need to hide behind anonymous personalities. Also, crime will be less because people then would be identifiable.
Setback? Big Brother is watching...
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Music
Have you ever noticed the different ways you listen to music?
I think it is interesting that when we listen to music it is hard to take in everything all at once. Yes we can "hear" all of it, but it is very hard to pay attention to all the details of the song. We can usually hear a song over and over again and pick up on small musical facets that we have never heard before.
Usually there is some harmony that I miss, or a chord that really hits home. Sometimes, I try to listen to the instruments to see if I can name them all, and often discover melodies and beats that were completely lost in the whole.
Moreover, I think music is something that we often underestimate. We often see it as a means for entertainment. However, we allocate much of our memory to lyrics and often find ourself humming tunes throughout the day. I don't think this allocation is a waste of space. Rather I think these memories are capital that we use at later times to support and remember feelings that are not immediately available. The feelings that songs evoke remain with us and return to us whenever we hear those same songs.
Music is more than just some sounds. It is rather a complex collection of sounds that ultimately capture our attention over and over again and continually invoke memories and emotions. I think we too often underestimate its power and importance.
I think it is interesting that when we listen to music it is hard to take in everything all at once. Yes we can "hear" all of it, but it is very hard to pay attention to all the details of the song. We can usually hear a song over and over again and pick up on small musical facets that we have never heard before.
Usually there is some harmony that I miss, or a chord that really hits home. Sometimes, I try to listen to the instruments to see if I can name them all, and often discover melodies and beats that were completely lost in the whole.
Moreover, I think music is something that we often underestimate. We often see it as a means for entertainment. However, we allocate much of our memory to lyrics and often find ourself humming tunes throughout the day. I don't think this allocation is a waste of space. Rather I think these memories are capital that we use at later times to support and remember feelings that are not immediately available. The feelings that songs evoke remain with us and return to us whenever we hear those same songs.
Music is more than just some sounds. It is rather a complex collection of sounds that ultimately capture our attention over and over again and continually invoke memories and emotions. I think we too often underestimate its power and importance.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Meat
I think one of the interesting things about eating meat is how removed we are from the process. We never see the animal, kill the animal, skin the animal, carve the animal, drain the blood and dispose of the corpse. Moreover, when we get the finished product, we remove ourselves further by hardly even calling the meat what it really is.
We call it beef, hamburgers, brisket, bologna and never cow.
We often call chicken white meat, dark meat or buffalo wings...
I think that the very fact that we get queasy when thinking about skinning cows and carving the meat off their bones demonstrates a quintessential fact about our common meat eating tendencies.We think it is gross, but we like how it tastes.
However, I think that by removing ourselves so much from the this process, we downplay the status of living animals. From an standoffish place, we begin to equate objects and animals as equal objects. Just like how my chair underwent some sort of production and assembly line, so too did my meat. I don't care about the process, I only care about the end result.
This line of thinking is unfair. Not to say that we should not eat meat, but rather that when we eat meat, we should at least acknowledge that process and try to think a little bit more about where meat comes from. Animals and Minerals are not equal.
Interestingly, if you are to agree that we should think a little bit more about where meat comes from and not take it for granted, I think that you can also apply that to many aspects of life. The labor put into the creation of your possessions and the natural processes that enabled nature to produce the materials for our possessions both demonstrate a level of meaning that we often ignore, that I think can only enhance our daily experiences.
We call it beef, hamburgers, brisket, bologna and never cow.
We often call chicken white meat, dark meat or buffalo wings...
I think that the very fact that we get queasy when thinking about skinning cows and carving the meat off their bones demonstrates a quintessential fact about our common meat eating tendencies.We think it is gross, but we like how it tastes.
However, I think that by removing ourselves so much from the this process, we downplay the status of living animals. From an standoffish place, we begin to equate objects and animals as equal objects. Just like how my chair underwent some sort of production and assembly line, so too did my meat. I don't care about the process, I only care about the end result.
This line of thinking is unfair. Not to say that we should not eat meat, but rather that when we eat meat, we should at least acknowledge that process and try to think a little bit more about where meat comes from. Animals and Minerals are not equal.
Interestingly, if you are to agree that we should think a little bit more about where meat comes from and not take it for granted, I think that you can also apply that to many aspects of life. The labor put into the creation of your possessions and the natural processes that enabled nature to produce the materials for our possessions both demonstrate a level of meaning that we often ignore, that I think can only enhance our daily experiences.
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