(no subject)
Dec. 1st, 2018 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Do you have a moral duty to leave Facebook?
Eh.
A few things about Facebook.
It was started around 2004, about six months after a bunch of us started our live-journals, by a guy who was on LJ and went to one of the Ivy's. And it was started as a college application and only available to college kids back then. It was basically college networking and dating site -- where people exchanged photos of each other. Rob aka Buffyannatator was talking about it in 2004 and using it to talk to various friends.
Then it branched out and became more. It's selling point to everyone was -- unlike Voy Forums or LJ or MySpace, you could quickly post pictures to the site, with a small message. At that time and pretty much until about five or six years ago, you couldn't post more than a few characters and pictures. No lengthy paragraphs or dissertations.
Just basically a way to exchange information.
I, much like the author of this opinion piece, joined in 2008 when it became accessible to people outside of college and various news agencies were using it to share news items. ABC and some of the other major news sources were sharing election polling and information related to the American Presidential Election in 2008. The 2008 election was the first election to use the internet in this manner -- and spread information via it. And a lot of vital information wasn't accessible outside of that site. When I joined, a lot of LJ people were already on and were the only ones I knew on it -- they friended me. Then my former college friends found me. Then people I had no memory of. Then co-workers. Then family members. Then church members. And various new friends. Over time, I just used as a way to stay in contact with family members and former college buddies, along with various people I'd met offline from LJ. And I stopped using it as a news resource, never was that reliable anyhow.
And up until roughly the 2016 election, it was fun and useful. Yes, it was also annoying. Because there are people on it that misuse it. And it can get addictive. But that's not Facebook's fault.
It has a lot to do with technology and information, and how we handle it. We're still going through the technological/information revolution -- which Al Gore warned everyone about during the 2000 election. That if we didn't put restrictions on technology and the internet now, we'd regret it later -- when it would be almost too late. I remember that because at the time I was working for a company and industry that was about to be swallowed alive by the information age/technological revolution.
Journal editors and content creators were terrified -- would their intellectual property be protected? While librarians and fans were excited, information would be free and easier to obtain.
What I saw was information overload to the extent that it would become almost impossible to identify what was valid from what was not. Too many decisions, too many choices, too many ads, too many voices all screaming at once and saying nothing.
I honestly don't see FB as any better or worse than Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter, Live Journal (in the latter years), or a host of other social networks. The network is only as good as the people using it. Just as any organization, company, or group is only as good as those who use it. It was created to share information and network with others -- that's it. It hasn't been that successful of a marketing platform -- because the few people I've known who tried? Failed miserably and gave up.
2. How to change your mind the new science of psychedlics
In X experience we lose what Iris Murdoch calls the “fat relentless ego”. We quit – again in Murdoch’s words – the “familiar rat-runs of selfish day-dream”. It seems, furthermore – and crucially – that a single dose can have lasting effects. In one (drug-free) experiment, Pollan astonished a neuroscientist who was monitoring activity in his posterior cingulate cortex, which is “believed to be the locus of the experiential or narrative self”. Without telling the neuroscientist what he was doing, he recalled in detail an ego-dissolving moment from one of his trips, with the result that activity in his posterior cingulate cortex plummeted: – “What in the world were you thinking?”
Yeah, well, having personally known several people who dropped acid in the 1980s (it was not just big in the 1960s), I have to say it doesn't change people all that much or make them more awake, more loving, less ego-centric or more caring. If anything, I'd say it was the opposite. (*cough*ex-boyfriend*cough* who dealt LSD.)
I remember a fraternity at my under-grad getting booted off campus for dealing LSD. (They'd put in the punch during Frat Parties. I was warned about it, and avoided the punch. Also avoided the parties. Honestly, can you imagine taking it and not knowing? Whoa. It was not pretty. Five of their frat brothers blew the whistle on them. I was friends with the dealers and the people who blew the whistle.)
And I read Timothy Leary's book on it, along with several others.
I've had the same experience mentioned in this article -- running a marathon and meditating. I call it Euphoria or an absence of mind. Freeing the mind -- is usually being aware of your thoughts, and being able to rise to the higher mind. But you don't need drugs to get there...just take up meditation and yoga. Far healthier. But the people I've know who dropped LSD didn't have the experiences listed in that article nor did they recommend people take it. Ex-Boyfriend is now a Mindfulness Therapist.
But, I am admittedly tempted to send Pollan's book to my brother as Christmas gift with a cryptic note inside...
3. Not feeling great today.
Talked to my Dad last night.
Me: Are you okay?
Dad: Well...
Me: By okay, I mean halfway coherent, able to walk, not on death's doorstep and well...
Dad: Yes, I'm okay.
Text-messaging:
Wales aka FBFF: Hi, Are you okay?
Me: No. My Dad was just released from a lengthy stay in the hospital. I've had digestive issues today. And my sciatica is running down my left leg. Had to cancel my plans because of it. Hope you are okay.
Wales: Sorry to hear that. Hang in there. Maybe we could do lunch next Sat? I'm okay.
Me: Yeah, I'd like that.
Wales: Cool.
Note to self, taking Magnesium Citrate and Senna tea together is not a good idea. While it loosens bowls...it does it with stomach cramps. Me and Laxatives, generally speaking are not mixy things.
My IBS is back. I blame cheese, chocolate, alcohol, sugar, fatty red meats, and certain gluten free grains like rice and corn.
So...
I made soup tonight. Root vegetable soup with chicken bone broth, and brocoli. It was good. Had turnips, carrots, zuccini squash noodles, broccoli and bone broth. Feel much better. Also had it for lunch. Along with some other things.
I may do soup, oatmeal, and salads and fruit for the next two weeks.
4. NASA Has Just Released 2540 Stunning New Photos of Mars
Eh.
A few things about Facebook.
It was started around 2004, about six months after a bunch of us started our live-journals, by a guy who was on LJ and went to one of the Ivy's. And it was started as a college application and only available to college kids back then. It was basically college networking and dating site -- where people exchanged photos of each other. Rob aka Buffyannatator was talking about it in 2004 and using it to talk to various friends.
Then it branched out and became more. It's selling point to everyone was -- unlike Voy Forums or LJ or MySpace, you could quickly post pictures to the site, with a small message. At that time and pretty much until about five or six years ago, you couldn't post more than a few characters and pictures. No lengthy paragraphs or dissertations.
Just basically a way to exchange information.
I, much like the author of this opinion piece, joined in 2008 when it became accessible to people outside of college and various news agencies were using it to share news items. ABC and some of the other major news sources were sharing election polling and information related to the American Presidential Election in 2008. The 2008 election was the first election to use the internet in this manner -- and spread information via it. And a lot of vital information wasn't accessible outside of that site. When I joined, a lot of LJ people were already on and were the only ones I knew on it -- they friended me. Then my former college friends found me. Then people I had no memory of. Then co-workers. Then family members. Then church members. And various new friends. Over time, I just used as a way to stay in contact with family members and former college buddies, along with various people I'd met offline from LJ. And I stopped using it as a news resource, never was that reliable anyhow.
And up until roughly the 2016 election, it was fun and useful. Yes, it was also annoying. Because there are people on it that misuse it. And it can get addictive. But that's not Facebook's fault.
It has a lot to do with technology and information, and how we handle it. We're still going through the technological/information revolution -- which Al Gore warned everyone about during the 2000 election. That if we didn't put restrictions on technology and the internet now, we'd regret it later -- when it would be almost too late. I remember that because at the time I was working for a company and industry that was about to be swallowed alive by the information age/technological revolution.
Journal editors and content creators were terrified -- would their intellectual property be protected? While librarians and fans were excited, information would be free and easier to obtain.
What I saw was information overload to the extent that it would become almost impossible to identify what was valid from what was not. Too many decisions, too many choices, too many ads, too many voices all screaming at once and saying nothing.
I honestly don't see FB as any better or worse than Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter, Live Journal (in the latter years), or a host of other social networks. The network is only as good as the people using it. Just as any organization, company, or group is only as good as those who use it. It was created to share information and network with others -- that's it. It hasn't been that successful of a marketing platform -- because the few people I've known who tried? Failed miserably and gave up.
2. How to change your mind the new science of psychedlics
In X experience we lose what Iris Murdoch calls the “fat relentless ego”. We quit – again in Murdoch’s words – the “familiar rat-runs of selfish day-dream”. It seems, furthermore – and crucially – that a single dose can have lasting effects. In one (drug-free) experiment, Pollan astonished a neuroscientist who was monitoring activity in his posterior cingulate cortex, which is “believed to be the locus of the experiential or narrative self”. Without telling the neuroscientist what he was doing, he recalled in detail an ego-dissolving moment from one of his trips, with the result that activity in his posterior cingulate cortex plummeted: – “What in the world were you thinking?”
Yeah, well, having personally known several people who dropped acid in the 1980s (it was not just big in the 1960s), I have to say it doesn't change people all that much or make them more awake, more loving, less ego-centric or more caring. If anything, I'd say it was the opposite. (*cough*ex-boyfriend*cough* who dealt LSD.)
I remember a fraternity at my under-grad getting booted off campus for dealing LSD. (They'd put in the punch during Frat Parties. I was warned about it, and avoided the punch. Also avoided the parties. Honestly, can you imagine taking it and not knowing? Whoa. It was not pretty. Five of their frat brothers blew the whistle on them. I was friends with the dealers and the people who blew the whistle.)
And I read Timothy Leary's book on it, along with several others.
I've had the same experience mentioned in this article -- running a marathon and meditating. I call it Euphoria or an absence of mind. Freeing the mind -- is usually being aware of your thoughts, and being able to rise to the higher mind. But you don't need drugs to get there...just take up meditation and yoga. Far healthier. But the people I've know who dropped LSD didn't have the experiences listed in that article nor did they recommend people take it. Ex-Boyfriend is now a Mindfulness Therapist.
But, I am admittedly tempted to send Pollan's book to my brother as Christmas gift with a cryptic note inside...
3. Not feeling great today.
Talked to my Dad last night.
Me: Are you okay?
Dad: Well...
Me: By okay, I mean halfway coherent, able to walk, not on death's doorstep and well...
Dad: Yes, I'm okay.
Text-messaging:
Wales aka FBFF: Hi, Are you okay?
Me: No. My Dad was just released from a lengthy stay in the hospital. I've had digestive issues today. And my sciatica is running down my left leg. Had to cancel my plans because of it. Hope you are okay.
Wales: Sorry to hear that. Hang in there. Maybe we could do lunch next Sat? I'm okay.
Me: Yeah, I'd like that.
Wales: Cool.
Note to self, taking Magnesium Citrate and Senna tea together is not a good idea. While it loosens bowls...it does it with stomach cramps. Me and Laxatives, generally speaking are not mixy things.
My IBS is back. I blame cheese, chocolate, alcohol, sugar, fatty red meats, and certain gluten free grains like rice and corn.
So...
I made soup tonight. Root vegetable soup with chicken bone broth, and brocoli. It was good. Had turnips, carrots, zuccini squash noodles, broccoli and bone broth. Feel much better. Also had it for lunch. Along with some other things.
I may do soup, oatmeal, and salads and fruit for the next two weeks.
4. NASA Has Just Released 2540 Stunning New Photos of Mars