A Conversaton with Elizabeth
1998
Identity in the Age of the Internet
From:
larry.m.mixson@bvs.com
Date: Wed, 25 Feb
1998 11:14:49 -0800
To:
Elizabeth
Subject: Re: Identity in the Age of
the Internet
I was just reading an article in Wired magazine (March 1998) which I
found interesting and somewhat related to our current on-line
discussion. It is titled: "Cyberbeats"
and discusses the role that the authors Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs
played in the digital revolution. The article made reference to Sherry
Turkle's book titled "Live on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the
Internet". Turkle is an MIT professor who tracks personal identity in
the digital age and concludes that we invent who we are as we move in
and about of social encounters and adapt to social roles. Turkle
identifies the Net as "a significant social laboratory for experimenting
with the constructions... of the self that characterize postmodern
life." This is the second reference to Turkle's book, I will have to get
a copy.
The article goes on to suggest that success in online encounters require
the ability to perform "lucid dreaming in an awake state." An
interesting thought which I can relate to. As I sit here writing to you
about the past I visualize what I am writing in what could be considered
dreaming in an awake state. Even when I am writing to you about current
events I visualize you in my mind, sitting at the other end of the wire.
An interesting article, I have not finished it yet but the above
references made me think of our discussions and I had to get off a quick
email. If you have not seen Wired magazine you might want to pick up a
copy. It is probably the premier magazine about the Cyberworld,
Cyberspace and Netizens.
Larry
Updated: 04-01-2024