Against the Machine Chap. 1 Response

The beginning of the chapter reminded me of a couple weeks ago, when I met a client at a Starbucks and I remember looking around noticing that almost every person inside was busy with a laptop. I remember looking over to see three people sitting next to each other, all looking at their computers and I thought how funny it was where a place of "social interaction" became a place of isolation. I agree with the author that the Internet has cut us off socially and psychologically from others. The invention of forums and chat rooms, while they are useful in communicating with people from across the country and around the globe, have created a social barrier between people. Typing out thoughts, feelings and ideas isn't the same as being in the same room with people. Those clever acronyms that everyone loves to use, you know, like LOL, WTF?, OMG! are the closest thing to human emotion as you're going to experience over the internet. The net is not very socially engaging when sitting in front of a screen that acts as a barrier that shields or deflects humanity.

The author brings up an interesting thought: "The sudden onset of Web culture is really a dramatic turn in the timeless question of what it means to be a human being (pg.18)." I think it can also be said that Web culture can transform the notion of identity and the self. The internet allows people to create their own identity, one that is completely different than who they really are. If I want to be a six foot, two-hundred pound rockstar with bulging biceps and a rock-hard eight pack, then I can be. The computer screen can hide our most unflattering features, masking our identity. It can transform our notion of the self so much that we might actually start to believe in our created identities. And if that is the case, what does it mean to be a human being? When we interact with others over the internet, are we really interacting? Is the person who they say they are? Do bitmaps and pixels determine who we are as people? These are just some of the thoughts that ran through my mind as I read the chapter. I love the internet and the convenience it provides, but I wonder: what kind of people would we be if there was no internet. Would we live in a less violent society, would we appreciate our family and friends more, would the lack of a computer screen enrich the social interactions that we have? Lee Siegel's book raises some interesting questions.