To Be or Not to Be

Perpetuated in virtuality,
For all of eternity
‘Tis an actuality,
This image-based reality.

It happens when I’m tired, the rhyming thing. But musical or not it’s true—our (my) reality has become a virtual reality, a paradox in and of itself.

The paradoxical nature of our own nature, what seems to be evolving into human nature, is so unreal, so imperfectly constructed that I can’t help but think maybe the Mayan’s weren’t so far off with the 2012 thing. It might not go up in flames on 12/22, but who knows. Maybe our firewalls will go down and all will be lost that way.

Cheery, no?

But it's entirely possible. Our world is becoming virtual, our money hypothetical, our relationships artificial. The writing is on the wall. We may not even realise when the game is up. It seems these things still are real to us—facebook introduces you to the new girlfriend, lets you overhear a conversation, see someone at a party. But these things aren’t really happening. Our interactions are bound by the interweb, an extensive network of representations only; a black hole of real things.

Eventually our physicality will be but a hindrance, a chore to upkeep. In many ways it already is. Diet pills and lose-weight fast schemes are at least as prominent as get-rich quick schemes. People don’t want to, or are not willing to, put any work toward the things they desire. Which begs the question, what is worth? If nothing warrants any work or effort, is anything worth anything? Or is there a new understanding of worthiness?

The value of money has become completely superficial; it’s less something to work for and earn than something owed, something everyone has a right to. But a right some are more deserving of than others. It seems arbitrary in a way; devoid of any humanistic of value.

The dehumanizing qualities of money I can handle. Money is by nature of its creation and function, dehumanizing. It’s objectifying and quantifying. But it’s money, I get it. There are similar trends in self-representation as well, especially with Facebook. Image has always been a bit superficial, and while a vrai shame it has been this way for as long as I can remember and that so too, I can understand.

What I have trouble with is the way Facebook is changing relationships. The way I barely missed anyone this semester. I’m not sure if that is because I am not they type of person to really miss people or because I could see anyone whenever I liked; my dearest friends were just a click away.

Sometimes it’s nice to be so connected. It’s easy to keep in touch and stay in your friends lives when distance or lifestyle (or time zones) wouldn’t otherwise permit, but at the same time there are all these friends still in your life, still knowing everything about you. There’s something genial about friends coming in and out of your life, rather than being there constantly. And it makes those few friends who are there constantly all the more important.

There’s also just the fact of having a record of your entire life. Weird. It’s just weird.