However, my favorite part about class on Thursday's was class was some people were much different on the internet than they were in real life, thus making the method of defining who you are very interesting. Sarte believes that you define yourself through your actions. So which person is really you? Should you be defined as the person who people see you in the real world and how you interact with people in real life? Or should you be seen as the person that your profile says you are? Ideally, you should be the same person in the cyber world as you are in the real world, but I understand that some people find their comfort zone in the internet. However, as was mentioned during class that people tend to say the most ruthless and hurtful things under the disguise of a pseudonym. Defining who you are as a person can be a very tricky thing, because I feel as humans we are constantly searching for who we are. One of the worst feelings in the world is not knowing who we are, because we are supposed to have complete control over our own lives are't we? In closing, I think defining who you are isn't controlled by what you do on the internet, or what we Say we do on the internet. Rather I believe that who you are can be defined in those specific moments when you take a step back and see yourself for what you are. The only thing I can hope for is that I like what I see.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Is Who I Am Defined By Who I've Been?
To begin, Thursday's class was by far my favorite of the semester, and I really appreciated how we applied Sarte's work to today's social issues. We talked about how the recent revolution of social networking has had global ramifications. Social networking sites such as Facebook reiterate Sarte's believes that humans are essentially free, and from this we do what we want, when we want to. There have been many days when I have wondered if God has every single move planned out, and we are just following one big itinerary The more I think about it, the more I don't think that it this is true. In terms of Facebook, I believe that God could predict the actions on everyone's news feed, but why would he want to? According to the Bible, wasn't one of the reasons we were created was to make decisions for ourselves? I think social networking is a perfect example of this. We see what everybody is thinking and doing, and we see the decisions they are making for themselves, and I can't help but think that free choice reigns supreme.
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I think what defines you can be based on your internet-self and your person in real life. I agree that people should be the same on the internet, but when they are not I tend to see what type of person they really are. I see that if they are conflicting personalities I see that person as someone who they really are. People tend to put on a disguise when they are not directly confronted. I know people like this personally and I am completely shocked when I see the things they post and say on Facebook and think about how they interact with people face to face. I tend to see them in a different light and I now have a new basis for who they really are. And it's sad. People shouldn't put on a charade or hide who they really are. They maybe judged by the worst of the two personalities.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cassandra, in that we are defined by both what we do on the internet as well as how we interact in the material world. Yes, the person that you portray yourself to be on the internet may not be the same person that you carry yourself as in everyday life, but it certainly stems from your real-world personality. On the internet, people often choose to hide behind a screen and act very different from who they really are. I believe that we can draw conclusions about a person's character based upon their web-profile, as long as we take into account their behavior in everyday life as well. The person you are on the internet is not a different person; it is merely a different side of you.
ReplyDeletePeople are complex beings and simply because an individual acts or carries themselves differently on the internet does not mean that they do not know who they are. A person in any environment changes how they act depending on their surroundings. Just like a person would talk to someone differently in person than they would on the internet, another person saying that individual does not know who they truly are could turn around and would act differently around their friends than they would their parents. People and their actions are very adaptable to their surroundings and this is also true for who an individual is speaking too. Thus I personally do not believe that it is the mode in which someone speaks through like the internet that defines the person. Rather in the case of the internet it is simply the lack of responsibility that causes the change in people and what they say but even then this does not define the person. This is because almost anyone would take a million dollars if they where not going to be accountable for it. I think the internet has just provided a play where everyone can take that million dollars and not be accountable.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree that you can be defined by who you are on Facebook or even in your interactions in the material world. I don't think any person other then yourself can know who you "really are." Every action one takes in life does not always reflect what they believe and not everything someone says reflects what they actually think. Even more so I'm not sure I myself know who I really am. I know that I'm a rhodes student, I know that I was a basketball player, but It almost seems impossible for me to say there is some exact definition of who I really am. Maybe this is because I haven't reached some point of clarity in my life yet, but I'm not sure if this point of clarity really exists and I do not think I nor someone else can say who I am or what defines me.
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