Ghost in the Machine 2 comments

24 May 2003 @ 14:53, by Quidnovi "A bamboo forest stands next to the property. It is a wonderful world... Yesterday's dinner was enjoyed at Lake Mitchell's gourmet cafe. The special dessert was Georgia peach crème brulée. Someone wanted me to translate "beurre blanc." I translated, but I did not consume. The docks at the lake restaurant stretch out over green waters, rippled by geese and baby geese, pontoon boats and gentle southern breezes. A couple of children sit on the dock on the other side of the river, fishing. You stare at them for several minutes before you realize they are carved of wood." ---i2i [Floating Bridges] Dianne has been away visiting some relatives in Alabama for a few days. It seems like this trip has come to develop in her a new found appreciation for some of what cyberspace (and NCN) has to offer in terms of communication. It is an horizons expanding thing---isn't it?---the ability to share and exchange thoughts, feelings and ideas not only verbally but through images and sounds---almost like some form of telepathy in a way---the capability of transporting someone to whom you are talking to the visual/auditory landscape that is stirring your mind and animating your thoughts as you are speaking to that person; the possibility of instantly referencing, documenting, defining the words you use to help place them in a context that you can share with your interlocutor are all precious tools that are making of the internet not yet just another convenient place where people can communicate through the use of boards and chatrooms but literally a medium which is revolutionizing the way in which people can communicate and exchange ideas with each other. You sit almost motionless, relaxed, your eyes focused on a glowing screen - the only source of light in an otherwise dark room. Your fingers tap lightly as your mind converges on the words and images that float before you. At times it seems like there is no difference between your thoughts and those images. At times it seems the distinction between inner and outer worlds almost disappears. At times, time itself evaporates. You are a computer user immersed in cyberspace. All melts into a new reality that transcends the rules of conventional reality. Like a Zen master in meditation, you have become one with with the virtual universe. OK... This is not the typical, everyday scenario for the computer user. Most of the time we just hack away at the keyboard to get something done, without slipping into transcendent consciousness. But many experienced computer users can recall moments like this. Cyberspace is indeed an extension of the mind, which means it can extend all facets of mental life - including hypnotic reveries and other altered states of awareness... .......................................................... ---John Suler, Ph.D., The Psychology of Cyberspace Related entries: --- Do dolphins speak Chinese? --- Synesthesia stretch and Tele-Synesthesia

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