In Search of Meaning

It was Viktor Frankl's  central premise that we humans, at our core, continually search for meaning in our life. It is this search that helps define who we are and  what we become. This central premise takes on new meaning as many of us move our "second self", or avatar, on to the web. There is a grave danger of forgetting who we are as we strive to become a "second self" in the virtual world. Some might get lost in the translation and therefore become devoid of what truly makes them human.

To use a term coined by William Gibson in Pattern Recognition, our life on the internet is like living in a mirror world.  It is no surprise then that Web 3.0 is about semantics.  Semantics is the study of meaning. I suggest then that this study of meaning once personalized will be revolutionary in how the first self - that self living in the physical world begins to meld with the second self - our persona on the web.

Statistics and Loss of Humanity

Steven Baker's Numerati is a must read and a brilliant tale of mathematicians and statisticians that tract our every click. It tells the tale of the lords of statistics in graphic if not pornographic (depending on one's sensibilities) detail. We are exposed, manipulated, molested, accosted and tracked. The Numberati track us and our habits 24/7. These statistical lords identify our patterns of behavior in politics, love, shopping and war. To what end and for what purpose? To get us to act in a certain manner to convince us that we belong. To somehow redefine and define where we fit. To get a vote, to sell a product, to seduce.

 

Its 3 AM and I wake up in a cold sweat, I dreamt that we all became just a number to be counted and manipulated, maybe not for the purpose of extermination, but certainly for the purpose of dehumanization.

 

And I worry that a “digital self” is replacing the “human self”. Nothing more than a bar code and a mouse click.

 

The power of this technology, the ability to dig deep and discover could be turned on its head for the common good, not the good of the few.

the unintentional genius of the Palin choice

Whether unintentional or Machiavellian, McCain and his handlers threw a wrench into the rather predicable pattern of campaign season politics. Not only is a women put up as VP she is instantly positioned as martyr material as well. One only has to look at the general response to McCain's announcement. The genius in the pick is, although the response was WHAT? instantly setting up the media and many very thoughful people as the ENEMY of the first women VP candidate on a Republican ticket. Animal Farm from the start, pit bulls, pigs with make up.

From that moment forward everything went sideways. For most human beings, as primitive as we often are, having a target requires shooting at it. and shot we did. Not productive.

We were instantly pulled off message and into the age old game of noise over substance. If we stick to our core beliefs we can move beyond the carnival atmosphere that plays to the republican strong suit and circle past Palin as booby trap and win in November