Internet comms as collaborative thought
Project: Polytopia

Something I've noticed about internet communications (forums, msn, chat) is that they are more similar to my internal monologue than to face to face conversation. However, it is not a monologue, it is a dialogue or multilogue (polylogue? :P). I think this is primarily because of lower felt need to be be cautious, a willingness to risk displaying ideas that the author might not feel are ready for display. Re-reading the conversations often gives me a 'stream of consciousness' impression.

I've found when I meet people I've conversed with or debated online we often return to the topics we discussed on the net and this time around the communication runs smoothly and extensively. Text based conversations never feel very solid; they don't engrave deeply in my memory, so it doesn't feel as if we're having the same conversation over again. It feels more like we're talking about things which we've already thought about together.

Tue, Feb 10, 2009  Permanent link
Categories: thought, internet, collective, telepathy
Sent to project: Polytopia

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