7 ms·

You know that Adams quote about the universe being bigger than you can impossibly imagine? Like, really, really big? Well, people are like that. Our brains k

by seiji 14y ago

You know that Adams quote about the universe being bigger than you can impossibly imagine? Like, really, really big? Well, people are like that. Our brains kinda blur the world together and, without realizing it, our brains map other people onto our own experiences so we think people are kinda like us. Except they really aren't. Really, really, really aren't. In every day interactions, we gloss over, ignore, and excuse little things that don't gel with us (without even knowing we do it). But being presented with their innermost inconsistent idiocracy in writing, in our face, and in our pockets -- it's too much. We start to realize they aren't us. They are them. Them ain't us. And we can't stand it. It's the same reason sharing an office with someone possessing your exact anti-personality will enrage you daily. It's the same reason visiting a highly population dense foreign land where people live by their own customs will begin grating on you quickly. "Stop exploding fireworks on my front door you irredeemable kids! I don't care if it is your yearly festival of annoying neighbors into threatening you with axes!" Two solutions: get much better (more complete, more self-actualized, more authentic) friends or tune them out. They're the same they've always been, but being exposed to every one of their inner most thoughts will drive you batshit insane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mending_Wall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mending_Wall

Tuvaloon 14y ago
>Two solutions: get much better (more complete, more self-actualized, more authentic) Reading your whole post, I think you mean 'more exactly like your favorite part of yourself', but otherwise, spot on. On FB you have to listen to everything everyone says to everyone, not just what they would choose to say to you to accommodate your sensibilities.
- seiji 14y ago
  Let's say the spectrum is something like: [90s Valley Girl] ... [Richard Dawkins] (people are one-dimensional in this example) I'm sure people cluster around ranges on the line. The stereotypical self-obsesed pinhead probably wants more people to reinforce his or her introspection and less talk about the world. They want celebrities, gossip, sales at stores, and shoes, shoes, shoes. The other end of the line probably doesn't want those things.
- graue 14y ago
  > On FB you have to listen to everything everyone says to everyone, not just what they would choose to say to you to accommodate your sensibilities. What I find really interesting is that this communication model is a totally novel one. Clay Shirky observed[1] that before the internet, all communication mediated by technology was either one-to-one (telephone, telegraph) or one-to-many (newspaper publishing). Only now with Facebook can we type up casual remarks that are instantly seen by potentially 100 or more of our real-world acquaintances. I can't think of any form of offline conversation that's analogous. This is exciting to me because it suggests that how Facebook works is not the final form of online communication. There's still plenty of room to discover new forms of interaction that more closely model what humans find comfortable. Maybe the secret groups discussed in the OP (which I'd never heard of until now) are an example of that. [1] http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
ryguytilidie 14y ago
Brilliant response, ty.
illuminate 14y ago
"we think people are kinda like us. Except they really aren't. Really, really, really aren't." I think the opposite is more likely to be problematic. People who aren't like myself are more interesting.

by seiji 14y ago

Tuvaloon 14y ago

>Two solutions: get much better (more complete, more self-actualized, more authentic) Reading your whole post, I think you mean 'more exactly like your favorite part of yourself', but otherwise, spot on. On FB you have to listen to everything everyone says to everyone, not just what they would choose to say to you to accommodate your sensibilities.

seiji 14y ago
Let's say the spectrum is something like: [90s Valley Girl] ... [Richard Dawkins] (people are one-dimensional in this example) I'm sure people cluster around ranges on the line. The stereotypical self-obsesed pinhead probably wants more people to reinforce his or her introspection and less talk about the world. They want celebrities, gossip, sales at stores, and shoes, shoes, shoes. The other end of the line probably doesn't want those things.
graue 14y ago
> On FB you have to listen to everything everyone says to everyone, not just what they would choose to say to you to accommodate your sensibilities. What I find really interesting is that this communication model is a totally novel one. Clay Shirky observed[1] that before the internet, all communication mediated by technology was either one-to-one (telephone, telegraph) or one-to-many (newspaper publishing). Only now with Facebook can we type up casual remarks that are instantly seen by potentially 100 or more of our real-world acquaintances. I can't think of any form of offline conversation that's analogous. This is exciting to me because it suggests that how Facebook works is not the final form of online communication. There's still plenty of room to discover new forms of interaction that more closely model what humans find comfortable. Maybe the secret groups discussed in the OP (which I'd never heard of until now) are an example of that. [1] http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html

ryguytilidie 14y ago

Brilliant response, ty.

illuminate 14y ago

"we think people are kinda like us. Except they really aren't. Really, really, really aren't." I think the opposite is more likely to be problematic. People who aren't like myself are more interesting.