Comments | sunandfire: (без темы)

sunandfire

(Untitled)

Oct 19, 2007 12:00

Sociologist Irving Goffman is discussed in a recent podcast of CBC's ideas. He suggests that the shakesperian quote "all the worlds a stage and all the men and women merely players" is more than a clever turn of words. But more so a reference to the way we present ourselves in different situations ( Read more... )

Comments 4

red_is_best October 20 2007, 03:35:24 UTC

I value online interaction because I feel that I can more genuinely be open about myself. I don't have to worry about censoring physical cues or body language to give off the impression that whatever I'm talking about isn't affecting me to the degree that it truly is. Instead, all of my cognitive resources are available to talk about what matters. So, I can be more honest b/c I'm not concerned if I open up I will get to a place where I can't deal with it around someone else. There is no one else around; I'm all alone in my bedroom with my laptop ( ... )

sunandfire October 20 2007, 07:21:21 UTC

do you feel you can be more honest. Because you don't have to deal with people's immediate reactions? OR Because you can carefully craft the words you use and make sure that you get it right without being taken the wrong way?

Don't you think that's strange you can relate better to people when you are alone?

red_is_best October 20 2007, 15:22:07 UTC

I don't think it's dealing with people's immediate interactions, I think that when I'm around someone and talking about something very personal I try to censor my body language and try not to get all worked up about it on the outside. So, a fair chunk of my cognitive resources are devoted to my body language/convincing myself it's No Big Deal so that whatever I'm talking about doesn't show in my emotions.
But I do want to be genuine with my words and feelings that I'm speaking; this is difficult to do simultaneously with the censoring that goes on and I don't feel I can go as deep and as true in person. (But this is not always the case. I don't have a paralyzing fear of any personal intimacy or something like that, I'm just speaking generally. I don't mind people knowing my private emotions, but I do mind them witnessing it. Some people have seen that from me but it is not very common ( ... )

anonymous October 23 2007, 04:15:02 UTC

The anonymity and control one can exercise over the internet is powerful and can help in expressing oneself, which is good for communicating with friends. Unfortunately it's harder to credit people with earnesty or tell how genuine they are, for the same reasons. So it's not really that great a way to communicate with strangers, unless they are already naturally inclined to listen to you (ie. because of a shared interest or a mutual friend ( ... )