Amppax Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Pretty routine statement, but I liked it. Thought I'd share it with y'all. The new technologies allow people to meet each other beyond the confines of space and of their own culture, creating in this way an entirely new world of potential friendships. This is a great opportunity, but it also requires greater attention to and awareness of possible risks. Who is my “neighbor” in this new world? Does the danger exist that we may be less present to those whom we encounter in our everyday life? Is there is a risk of being more distracted because our attention is fragmented and absorbed in a world “other” than the one in which we live? Do we have time to reflect critically on our choices and to foster human relationships which are truly deep and lasting? It is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 (edited) I am currently reading a book of essays on an author named Ivan Illich, who wrote from a Catholic perspective on the philosophy of technology. One of the articles deals with the technological (and modern) idea of "challenges" which sees everything in terms of a limit which must be overcome, and can be overcome, that there are no human limits, that to limit anything is to stifle humanity. I think we can see this in what Pope Benedict is referring to, the idea of social media as an opening up of "friendship" to the whole world, not limiting yourself to your neighbor. But Illich argues that, just the opposite, that limits are what make us human, that life is not a "challenge" to be overcome with technology, but a creative cultivation of our limits. To have limits is to have a threshold under which the stranger can enter, it is to have a home in which to show hospitality, it is to have a bed on which to die, to have a horizon on which to distinguish "here" from "there." And when these are destroyed, so too is human culture. Now, we live in a world without limits, where we die in a dehumanizing process of institutionalized hospitals and medicine, where we have friendships with people who have no names or faces. And the problem is not so much that such "friendships" exist but that they become the new norm, and we become nodes in a system which by definition has no limits, has no threshold, but is always "on," always connected to a virtual nothingness with no beginning and no end. That is when we become tools in the system, no longer toolmakers and tool users, we have become the tools (just think about what social media really is, it is big data and big business, a more efficient way to economize human relationships). Here is the book I'm reading, in case you're interested, Ivan Illich was German and may have known Cardinal Ratzinger (he certainly knew of him): http://www.amazon.com/The-Challenges-Ivan-Illich-Collective/dp/0791454223 Edited February 16, 2015 by Era Might Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 It's just pixels. *runs out of the thread cackling* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 It's just pixels. *runs out of the thread cackling* Your mom is just a pixel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Your mom is just a pixel. Errr... my mom is dead, actually. Not that you knew that...but I'll take any opportunity to request prayers for her soul. I'm glad you got my original joke, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Errr... my mom is dead, actually. Not that you knew that...but I'll take any opportunity to request prayers for her soul. I'm glad you got my original joke, though! It's not nice to trap people with such things. But pixels aren't nice, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 It's not nice to trap people with such things. But pixels aren't nice, after all. I have no idea what you mean. Not that confusion on my part is anything new. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I have no idea what you mean. Not that confusion on my part is anything new. :| I mean mentioning that your mother is dead when someone was simply being sarcastic and not even actually talking about your mother is not generally considered polite. This video will explain it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5YDVCAEMXE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Wow, just wow. 1. I wasn't offended. I honestly didn't know how I was supposed to respond to a "your mom" joke, given that I'm never on the receiving end of them. Keep in mind that I'm in my 30s and not 16. 2. I'd say more but it would fly in the face of that whole "just pixels" thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 The proper thing to do is just back the hell off, FP. There is a time to shut up. That time has arrived for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franciscanheart Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 :huh: (And I think it's wise to avoid the R word.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I agree with Pope Benedict that it is relatively easy online to form transient, shallow relationships to the detriment of one's offline life. But at the same time I think it is important to recognize - and many Phatmassers are proof of this - that occasionally a relationship which starts online can become as deep and as important as any relationship begun the 'usual' way. Yes, being online should not come at the expense of your real life. But 'virtual' contact certainly can deepen into real, authentic contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 "Robert"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Yes, being online should not come at the expense of your real life. But 'virtual' contact certainly can deepen into real, authentic contact. Sounds dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Sounds dangerous. I like to live dangerously. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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