TU Cent Thoughts, 1-12-06

[greybeta]

Administration
To reduce the PMSing of zarhooie, I will add "And because I think you will help me understand the human condition better" to my signature friending message. Sheesh, I never knew an LJ friending request could be so offensive to so one.

Please nominate me...
Could one of you fine LJ friends please nominate me?

Desperate measures call for desperate times
So I have to fill two and half pages in the opinion section of the school newspaper and one of my writers gets sick. I think I'm going to go home and cry now.

Unless...

The absurdity of the Internet
Kat: You rescind what you said now! 'Song is like a mom to me!
D2: I...I'm sorry. I rescind what I said. I didn't know the bond was that deep.
Kat: She is like a mom to me!
D2: Sorry, I just have to be honest. If I were a sociologist, I would have to say it's rather absurd to say that some random person on the Internet could be your "mom" and actually mean it.

FOCUS lunch
It was good to be back in the BSU and serving drinks once more.

My head hurts
Okay, in my American political development class we went from making the baseline politics of the American people a sine wave to a solar system to an Einsteinian atom to a quantum mechanics atom.

Physics and politics should never mix...

Verse of the Day
"If you hold to my teachings, then you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
~John 8:31-32

Convos of the Day

D2: Rouge, one mistake in seven hundred ain't bad.
Rouge: One mistake in seven hundred is one too many.

D2: You know, the common person makes an average of two or three mistakes.
Rouge: You forget that I am not a common person.

Rouge: What's your debit card number?
D2: Um...no?
Rouge: Chris wants to know how many numbers are on your debit card.
D2: Sixteen. But why does he want to know?
Rouge: He's going to try to guess a number so he can register EQ.
D2: Um, he's going to need to know more than just a sixteen digit number...

Graballz: It's good to have you back, Your Most Bitterness.
D2: Actually, it's Most Bitter Justice...Most Bitter Justice...that has a nice ring to it.
Graballz: LOL, it does.

Graballz: I thought you didn't have any opinions?
D2: I don't. I just have the facts.

D2: Yo.
Amy: Damn!
D2: ?
Amy: No, not you.

Kat: I HATE YOU!!!
D2: What?!
Kat: You have the most EVIL voice mail message ever.
D2: Sorry, Miss Kat, I don't like to be interrupted I almost never answer my cell phone when I'm eating dinner.

Kat: YOU HAVE TO ADD THIS TO YOUR LJ!
D2: No, no I don't.
Kat: NO I SAID YOU HAD TO!
D2: Um, no, it's my LJ. I do what I want on my LJ.
Kat: Sigh, then may I suggest you add it to your LJ.
D2: I'll consider it, though it is my decision in the end.


Quote of the Day
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and
go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
~Howard Thurman

Link of the Day
Bureaucracy=inertia. A well written post by kenshi about the Alito hearings.

Sports Report
TU sucking still makes me cry.

C.S. Lewis Group
So the Polymer Potter recommended that I read the Screwtape Letters. I joined a C.S. Lewis reading group at the Wesley foundation just to make sure I read it this semester.

Social dysfunction meme

Your Social Dysfunction: Narcissistic You are very self-important, preoccupied with success fantasies, expect special treatment and lack interpersonal empathy.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com Please note that we aren't, nor do we claim to be, psychologists. This quiz is for fun and entertainment only. Try not to freak out about your results.

Random Question
Is saying, "I hope you don't mind me friending you because I think you can help me improve my writing in both content and style..." really that creepy?

Comments

[feanor16.livejournal.com]

Screwtape was great.
Physics and politics should definitely mix...
you have to explain those models to me sometime.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Um, I can only try to explain the models...

[yndy.livejournal.com]

Is saying, "I hope you don't mind me friending you because I think you can help me improve my writing in both content and style..." really that creepy?

Actually, it was rather off-putting when I saw it too... If it hadn't been for the fact that so many other people I adore have you as friend, I might've hesitated as well.
Mostly because my LJ certainly isn't going to help anyone with their writing content or style...

But ideas - ideas and interactions are what LJ is all about in my book. Someone like theferrett or wicked_wish I can see helping you to refine your writing style - as both write well for audiences. I don't really write my LJ for an audience - hence the lack of editing and the large percentage of 'why in heaven's name is she posting that?' posts.

OTOH - I have managed to violently offend someone by telling her I found her to be intelligent, creative, and witty and liked reading her LJ, did she mind if I added her... this was, apparently, taken as an insult(?) and repeated as an example of my hubris. How dare I imply that I was in a position to judge such things?! *shock*! ah well... it takes all kinds.

:)

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

"How dare I imply that I was in a position to judge such things?!"
"Mostly because my LJ certainly isn't going to help anyone with their writing content or style..."

You underestimate yourself.

[fub.livejournal.com]

Is saying, "I hope you don't mind me friending you because I think you can help me improve my writing in both content and style..." really that creepy?
It is, a bit. It makes it sound like you expect something from the people you're friending -- and since they have no influence on your friending them, it is as if you get a task that you didn't asked for thrust upon you.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

It makes it sound like you expect something from the people you're friending -- and since they have no influence on your friending them, it is as if you get a task that you didn't asked for thrust upon you.
Okay, put in these terms I understand why people keep on getting creeped out. I will have to modify my message to alleviate this problem.

What do you think of this?

"I hope you don't mind me friending you because I like learning about the human condition and I think your journal can help me do that."

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly random. zarhooie and I have been close friends for about two years online now, and one year in person. It is quite possible to develop strong relationships online that carry over to the Real World (tm) - that is, after all, how I met my husband (best friend online for four years before I met him in person, and we've been together for five years now). And actually, it's how your Ferrett-sensei met his wife.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

The exceptions prove the rule.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Why do you assume that zarhooie is the rule rather than the exception?

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

But what if I assumed Miss Kat was the exception rather than the rule?

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Obviously, you shouldn't assume either. But you're extremely critical of a friendship formed online/carried over into meatspace, and considering how commonplace that is now, and how it's even how your sensei met his wife, I'm curious as to why.

I am going offline now, so any replies from me will not be immediately forthcoming, FYI.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I shouldn't assume either, as I'd be making an ass out of myself. You might say I'm extremely critical because I simply don't understand it. Simple honest truth there. And yes, I know the story of how Ferrett-sensei met his wife, but even Mrs. Ferrett admits they were very fortunate for things to have worked out.

I guess I'm curious about this Internet phenomenon because I am a history major. One of the things that I have learned as a history major is that the way we communicate shapes society, and therefore also shapes history. The Internet as a normal means of communication has only existed for maybe twelve years (I believe 1994 is when Internet really took off for public consumption). In that time the Internet has exploded beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

I remember when I was ten years old and I made my first screenname for AOL 2.0 (I still use that AIM name). The exciting thing for me was getting to play flight simulators with people across the globe. That was awesome. And now look where we are. There are now such things as email etiquette, forum etiquette, gaming etiquette, etc. This cheap, accessible and instant form of communication has shrunk our world into a global house.

Think about it. A science fiction comic book writer is mediating a dispute between a conservative Vietnamese Brimstone Baptist and a liberal polyamorous Scandinavian christian. What is their dispute about? Truth and lies. It's easy to say sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me. But of course words hurt us. Especially when they are misquoted. I know I am misquoting people.

Why? Hmmm, I think an excellent writer like yourself would be able to grasp what I'm about to say. When we write fiction, do we always write exactly what our characters would say? Sure, as a writer, we choose the dialogue our characters use. But, the very fact that we write it means that we put our own taint, our own interpretation the characters.

If you take the present and look back with hindsight, then of course Internet dating is commonplace and normal. But step back twenty years ago and try to look with some foresight. It would have been so absurd to say you would fall in love with someone you've never met. Well, hell, it's still absurd today to say you would fall in love with someone you've never met.

In traditional Asian culture, Internet dating is backwards. For example, if I followed tradition to the letter, before I dated a girl I would call her father and mother and talk with them awhile so they could get to know me. But the Internet turns that upside down because you can meet a Russian girl across the globe thanks the miracle of web cam.

I took way more words than necessary to say that I am critical because I simply do not understand. Unless, I was devious. Then I would say that appearances can very deceiving.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

>The Internet as a normal means of communication has only existed for maybe twelve years

The internet had also already existed for many years before that in some academic and government settings as well as plenty of BBS users. I'm surprised you'd be skeptical of online-to-real-life relationships if you had started mucking around online before even hitting puberty. Usually the skeptics I've met are of an older generation that didn't grow up with these newfangled gadgets.

>But, the very fact that we write it means that we put our own taint, our own interpretation the characters.

Don't we put that same taint into everything we do? Whether we communicate in person, on the phone, or via email, people can choose to represent themselves however they want. Depending on my environment, I can be a shy wallflower, a social butterfly, an eager newbie, and a skilled expert. I can lead and be in control or I can hunker down and do as I'm told. They are all different aspects of my personality and depending on who you are and what the circumstances are, you might describe me differently depending on where and when you met me. We can represent ourselves honestly or we can be misleading and even outright lie but those possibilities for deception exist even outside the online world.

>It would have been so absurd to say you would fall in love with someone you've never met. ... In traditional Asian culture, Internet dating is backwards.

My parents first met each other in person on the day they married. If you want to go by tradition, I would think corresponding and text messaging with someone you've never met would be second nature :)

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you'd be skeptical of online-to-real-life relationships if you had started mucking around online before even hitting puberty. Usually the skeptics I've met are of an older generation that didn't grow up with these newfangled gadgets.
While I used computers and the Internet when I was rather young, I used it mostly to play games. It seemed absurd to a kid that anyone would ever use it to date someone.

We can represent ourselves honestly or we can be misleading and even outright lie but those possibilities for deception exist even outside the online world.
Exactly. The online world is full of deception just as the "real" world is. What's scary is that it's becoming harder and harder to differentiate between virtual reality and true reality.

My parents first met each other in person on the day they married. If you want to go by tradition, I would think corresponding and text messaging with someone you've never met would be second nature :)
I stand corrected. That doesn't happen too often. :)

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

that anyone would ever use it to date someone.
Ah but in a way, dating is getting to know someone and talking with them online is just another way of learning more about each other.

Exactly. The online world is full of deception just as the "real" world is.
But then the only way to completely protect yourself from being deceived is to avoid contact with other humans. And where's the fun in that?

That doesn't happen too often. :)
Yeah I get the impression it was even rare in their age group. Neither my mom's younger brother or sister had arranged marriages.