Some Pro's and Con's of being Virtually Connected to Reality.

Dune not be bashful, grumpy, leery 

   or any other contemporary dwarf man

even countless less well known dwarves 

   (that never got a chance to play a bit part) such as wham

bam
thank you ma'am 
linkedin with the The emergence of the Internet and poetry slam
opportunities availed by Uncle Sam

which characters (albeit fiction) 
   nonetheless, helped spawn a quiet yet free 
   global, radically riotous, totally tubular transformation 
   affecting a societal and human specie 
but not credited contributing 

   to paradigm seismic shift that garnered tree
mend us plenti fully birthed, 

   impacted and transformed how wii

(more particularly many gifted minds) 

   bridged geographical distance 
(encompassing all four corners of the Earth) to enhance

what came to be called the world wide web, 

   digital strong armed lance
information super high,  "Cyber Revolution", 

   etc allowing  one to prance

and essentially transcend reality to brook

   commanding, commingling, communicating, hook
   line and sinker, et cetera 

   with an excellent access and out look
reaching the most distant cranny and nook.
 

This (bit a ping - byte chitty bang) manifestation toward 
exponentially faster processing capacities 
   more powerful than pen or sword
(based on principles of Moore’s Law), reward
electronically solidify binary unification swiftly tail lord

 

engenders greater dependence and reliance 

   figuratively shrinking the drinking gourd
allowing far flung aliens, family, friends, et cetera to ford
great distances via sophisticated electronics 

   courtesy of super smart mother board
enabling ever more complex electronic contrivances 
   the generic gibbon can afford.

 
Analogous to Medieval Age

this quiet riot creation of the Internet did un cage
actual physical barriers ushered Hall mark gauge
marked by Computer/Digital Age odyssey), 
   especially sharing pixillated page

at light speed, where the ordinary individual 
   could keep in contact ) 
   albeit with every now and again a bit torrent rage

and in some instances tapping a preschooler considered a sage
which kindergarten lad/lass commandeered a handsome wage

 

whereat the the parental did cajole, wheedle or beg

their wealthy progeny promise of a healthy nest egg

stored money in Swiss bank accounts or hollow leg

perhaps christ
undermining rich kid to drop out of school before first grade
 

 
affected the previous modes people used to mediate communication.

As with any major dramatically novel schema (first originating as a flash in the pan aha eureka, light bulb idea, second being scribbled on some scrap of paper as some rough blue print and third getting beta test marketed), this advent of powerful binary processing impacted near earth shaking innovations and ramifications in all walks and talks of life.

Luddites be damned! Thus spake Zarathustra (cue the opening scene from Planet of the Ape) upon witnessing the immediate and increasingly positive effects on society, especially with the integrated circuitry miniaturization (and attendant affordability) from said technological trappings unleashed upon global market place for a greater proportion of the population to purchase.

Unbeknownst to the (so called) blithely happy go lucky "end users" of these smart machines (which purportedly saved a stitch in time from routine tasks), the sound of silence (written on the subway walls) presented unforeseen deleterious detriments.

Oh without a shadow of a doubt though (just ask Punxsutawney Phil), the Internet ranks as the greatest god-sent heavenly manna since the introductions of white bread and powdered milk biscuits.

This invisible medium (premised on the fairly simple concept of ones and zeros constituting the presence or absence or an electric charge) now allows, enables and facilitates anyone anywhere (with access to the world – soon to be cosmic wide web), a near inexhaustible advantage of accessing whole new expansive databases in nanoseconds.

Emoticons, ideas, thoughts, et cetera can be communicated (at well nigh the speed of light) with diverse persons far across the opposites ends of our ever shrinking globe (soon the farthest reaches of thine cosmos) at the press of a key, and also generate virtually instantaneous (plus simultaneous) written, visual and virtual connections with alienated old and potentially new kindred friends.

In addition, computer mediated communication has paved homo sapiens yellow brick road interactions with this ion charged edifice, which surreal late twentieth century fin de siècle infra-structure (known as the information superhighway and supposedly invented by Albert Gore - he of the Inconvenient Truth fame) presents countless opportunities to explore most any topic under the sun.

Today more informed and educated members of societies (covering all four corners of this ever crowded planet earth) can easily attend a virtual college (of her/his choice - from the comfort of home attired in formal wear or simply wearing their birthday suit) while simultaneously maintaining a family, creating new avenues upon which business can function and expand, revolutionize the collection and searching of governmental and tap into (literally) historical records of all types.

However, the luxury of being voluntarily tethered with trillions of terabytes per tremendous epistemological tombs obviously gives the modus operandi synthetic charade, facade, mockery, sham, travesty (ala like a Potemkin village) of being connected with other disembodied beings seeking to latch onto an elusive zeitgeist.

This apparition or falsetto of actuality also has the down (load) side and less stellar effect of fueling a culture of instant gratification, a decrease in actual substantial interpersonal involvement, and what I believe affects us naked apes to be hosts and servers playing a deadly dehumanizing game or mortal kombat.

So...rather than fostering an effulgent frisson of the body, mind and spirit triage, we capitalistic creatures craving newest wired wonderment (as sensate beings) inexorably become more detached and estranged from each other and society in general.

It is only by the comparison of the positives and negatives of the "Cyber Revolution" that we can better appreciate living in a high tech society while understanding the irony of how it makes us increasingly detached from each other.

Nowadays the typical (and predictable) manifestation of dialogue among humankind witnesses nearly every Tom, and Harry emailing or sexting (Tam, Donna and Hailey) while in line at the grocery store or taking the dog for exercise.

In the not to distant future do not be surprised to take stock of four footed furry house pets (such as canis familiaris or felix domesticus) being similarly adorned with these same contraptions (as simians) sans jiving to some snoop doggy dog drooling bark a roll or puss in da ole cat claws hello kitty litter boots band.

Occasionally, I stop to ponder what this, that or another person happens to be talking about and how many unusual ways people use high tech cyber devices to multitask.

In my humble opinion, the majority of us have become acclimated, accustomed, adumbrated, anesthetized, deified, electrified, fortified, gratified, horrified, lobotomized, terrorized, la de da to the dependence of being wired (from head to toe), encumbrances bogging down an ability to experience connected with the physical world.

A further love affair with gadgets posits (from me) that we neglectfully, shamefully, and tragically fail to realize how this makes us more unaware of our natural surroundings.

For example, when one has a hobby, such as gardening, you can easily access a web site that will connect you to a link where you can exchange tips with other gardeners and develop virtual relationships and share experiences. In addition, increase ability grew and blossomed to petal flower power.

The site is not intended to promote offline relations. However, as we develop our online relationships we begin to establish a personal connection that cannot be compared to our actual social contacts.

This can be attributed to the fact that there is some contentment in knowing that one can more easily present herself in a more flattering, less realistic and fact based manner.

We do not necessarily carry the burden of having to worry about how we physically appear to the world.

Indeed, it is simple for any technically literate (or savvy) person to use a program such as Photo Shop to manipulate electronically their image to, for instance, erase some facial wrinkles, tighten up a chin, add Angelina lips or erase that troublesome cellulite.

 

However, one must question whether such facile ease and small electronic based deceits possibly corrupt of our sense of interpersonal honesty! Also, the derelict digital domain creates a simulacrum of L’Chiam.

Now more than ever, a couple of immediate queries beg to be asked of me to the unsuspecting rabbit Reddit reader.

Are such commercially pervasive software applications under girding the innate artistic penchant latent within the natural born artist?

In addition (this introspective individual begs to ask) if impersonal electronic data packet facilitated lies thus permeate our cyber and non-cyber society?

Other nattering nabobs of nativity (who may not necessarily reside in Narberth, perhaps they live in New Séance, or along the rocky shore of Lake Woebegone), could easily bolster and substantiate this acute sense how each mortal easily being becomes alienated and atomized with logarithmic hours spent hunched over the trappings of virtual reality.

Although well nigh over a dozen plus years whence stand alone computing machines got linked together prefacing the fledgling assemblage of the World Wide Web.

Futurists of bygone centuries did prognosticate premised science fiction scenario themes decades earlier that foretold that upon the promulgation of networks of high powered processors that would foster disenfranchisement from oneself and also develop healthy alliances with fellow members of the human race to attain mental, physical or spiritual intimacy.

As one who can play the devil's advocate, I can attest that said diabolical and sinister nature of cyberspace (albeit in a rather subtle mode) compromises human empathy, harmony and sympathy (vis a vis uncoupling endearing fidelity) untrammeled by any vicissitudes of life.

I (a rather disheartened, humble, literate, and somewhat discontent married Caucasian male of two score plus a dozen years) can vouch safe that ease of online "cheating" available at fingertips, and (if nimble enough) toes as well.

Any number of personal classified advertisements populate the electronic arena, which temptations quite irresistible to one whose marital circumstance fraught with regular disappointment (lack of sexual interaction one factor), and the near effortless ability to let these hands glide across the qwerty arranged keyboard give free rein to letting loose libidinal longings of the loin.

Conclusion: SOME ADDITIONAL RHETORICAL QUESTIONS TO PONDER WEIGHING THE MERITS AND DEFICITS OF THE ETHER NET:

1. Can or will anyone take the time to compose a thoughtful exposition or even a loving message in an email or blackberry or cell phone, or will we be stuck with ": -)" or "XO XO"?

2. Do the online behavioral parameters (i.e. so called Netiquette nostrums) disallow, dissuade and disparage fellow beings to abandon the prescribed offline parameters of decency, integrity, magnanimity, et cetera ascribed to a person interacting with another (or group of people) in a real social milieu?

3. Has email caused the premature death of elegance undermined that je ne sais quoi subtle wit in letters and writing or has it enhanced it?

4. I wonder if our mad dash speed of light rush for instant communication caused our sense of romance and personal connection to wither on the vine?

5. Whence and where pray tell did thine art of the scribe disappear?

6. Might there be eco-friendly solutions to removing oil stains from a carpet?

7. Must Donald Trump rule the White House roost and trip up American democracy vis a vis quack a quack the all Mighty Ave Ian quaking duck dynasty?

8. Can any cattrophy usher in the invention of a better mousetrap, which vermin most likely attended the Hogwarts School of Magic. Dang, those critters can make a bee line at the speed of greased lightening, and take literal leaps of blind mice faith when flying thru the air as if on an invisible trapeze zoid.