Reality and the Internet

Reality and the Internet (07.05.2011)

"We are in a lot of trouble because you people and 239,893,600 other Americans use the Internet. Because less than fifty percent of you read books. Because less than forty-five percent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what comes over the Internet. Right now there is a whole, entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of the Internet. This Internet is the gospel, the unltimate revelation. The Internet can make or break Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers...the Internet is the most awesome goddamned force in the whole godless world. And woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people. When the largest company in the world controls the most awesome goddamned propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on the Internet. So, you listen to me, listen to me...the Internet is not the truth. The Internet is a goddamned amusement park. The Internet is a circus, a carnival of a traveling troup of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side show freaks, lion tamers, and football players. The Internet is in the boredom killing business. So if you want the truth go (somewhere else) to your gurus, go to yourselves! Because that's the place you are going to find any real truth. You're never going to get any truth from the Internet. The Internet will tell you anything you want to hear; it lies like hell. It will tell you that the good guy always gets the killer and nobody ever experiences the bad things...the Internet will tell you any shit you want to hear. The Internet deals in illusions...none of it is true! But you people sit there, day after day, night after night. All ages, colors, creeds; the Internet is all you know. You are beginning to believe the illusions the Internet is spinning. You're beginning to think that the Internet is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the Internet tells you. You dress like the Internet, you eat like the Internet, you raise children like the Internet, you even think like the Internet. This is mass madness, you maniacs! You people are the real thing it is the Internet that is the illusion."

[Paraphrased and adopted from the Academy Award winning movie Network]

Watch the Clip

I recently had a conversation with a friend about various Web sites that are geared toward gay male fetishes such as the Master/slave or dom/sub. Our conversation reminded Me of the movie Network, which I quote in the paraphrase above. Of course, when the movie originally came out there was no such thing as the Internet. The speech, given by Peter Finch in the movie, was directed toward the televiion and the awesome power it had to influence people. I think that the same power exists on the Internet. Personally I think the power of the Internt is more dangeerous that the power of the television ever was because, inlike television, the Internet is completely unregulated. Not that I am for regulation of the Internet but My friend and I thought there should at least be some responsibility and accountabilty for people who peddle crap and lies. My friend continuously brings up a good point. He things that people want the crap and lies; that they do not want to know the truth but would rather have the illusion. I had to think about that for a bit and I think to a certain degree he is correct.

What does any of this have to do with Masters or slaves? Because there are few sites devoted to the theme of Master and slave I use Recon as a springboard for My search for slaves. I have been involved with the Internet since its inception and I have watched it evolve to what it is in 2011 and no matter what anyone states or what statistics are quoted it was pornography that oiled the engine of the Internet in the early days. In our age of electronic entertainment I think by now everyone knows that sex sells. Create an illusion implimenting some sexual backdrop and people take notice; people will buy. With the Internet it goes much, much deeper than that. Just like Peter Finch says in the paraphrased quote above, "...the only truth you know is what comes over the Internet. Right now there is a whole, entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of the Internet." Of course the real line was refering to the boob-tube or the television. But, it is the same whether the reference is made using the T.V. or the Internet.

"....the Internet will tell you any shit you want to hear. The Internet has a potential to be more dangerous than people thought the television would be. The Internet places all of the responsibility in the hands of the end user. You can search for anything at all on the Internet. You will learn things you never knew existed. How much information do you need? How much information is actually useful to the evolution of your life? The Internet has become a major distractive force in the education and mental health of millions of kids who know no other reality; no other source of information that what comes from sites that they choose becuase they can choose whatever they want...they do not have to be responsible...kids can choose anything that merely entertains them. I see this in adults all the time. There is even an immensely popular web site called Second Life where people literally do not have to live their "real" actual lives but can create an entire virtual life. So what's wrong with that?

A study conducted by Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab known as the Proteus Project has considered the following: "...it has been argued that the lack of social presence or the lack of social cues creates an impoverished social environment". research has looked at how the narrow communication channels in CMC impacts impression formation. And although there has been research on self-representation in online environments, the focus has been on the impact of anonymity and authenticity â€”in other words, the gap between the real and virtual self and how that difference changes social interactions [reference].

It is the gap between the real and the virtual self that I am most interested in becuase on sites like Recon I do not have much confidence that many people are aware of the difference between their real and virtual selves. I think that most people believe their virtual self is real when they are in the midst of the moment. For a growing number of people the Internet is a virtual place that you can be anyone you want to be. While it can be therapeutic in some ways as entertainment, it can also lead to destructive vicious cycles [reference]. Let Me throw oout this question: "Have you ever met someone in person from one of these social sites, like Recon, where the person you thought you were meeting was nothing like what they represented themselves to as?" Sound familiar. I know it has happened to Me and if I represent a percentage of the members on a site like Recon then I know that it has happened to others as well. Why does this happen? Why don't people represent themselves truthfully?

Many years have passed since the inception of the Internet and the current scale of availability. Many scientific studies have been done like the one at Stanford University. Statistics are great, but they can be skewed by variables and circumstances. However, I have been involved with programming for the Inernet since the days when the first time we got our hands on some HTML code we ran home to play with it on Windows notepad. There was no Netscape and no other browsers. It was virgin territory. I got to watch this evolution/revolution from the beginning which includes the development and evolution of gay-themed Web sites such as Recon.

Many of the studies that were done on Web sites such as Second Life show that the participants lives are no where near the reality of their first life...their actual life. Buddhists teach that listening to our own stories that we tell oursleves and becoming attached to our own fantasies have the propensity of becoming habitual and damaging to our lives. They teach that the only reality is contained in the moment of acutal awareness. However, as the famous Buddhist nun and Master Nucharia Pema Chodron states, "Our fantasies are always more juicy than reality." But isn't the moment we are on Recon presenting ourselves as something we are not...reality? How do you know? Is it reality and how would you know the difference? The studies that were conducted over expansive time-frames showed that many people, particularly people in their teens and twenties sometimes had difficulty discerning between reality and virtual reality. In many cases there was a crossing over the line where people attempted to become the person they were representing themselves as without the necessary learning or experience to actually be the person they were representing.

My take on the whole thing; the reason why people represent themselves as something they are not is to increase thier chances of partaking in the theme of the Web site...a theme they are attracted to through fantasy. On sites like Recon I have met many, too many, people who buy into the fantasy of say being a Master and having sexual control over another person's life. Being a gay man Myslef, sure I have fantasies too. I look at the pictures and get aroused by them. I read the profiles of the slaves and could easily allow Myself to buy into the whole fantasy becuase at the moment My libido (sex drive) is focused and My hormones are raging through My bloodstream. I might even have been feeling horny before I logged on to the site. The only difference between Me and another guy is that I have a specific goal and have employed self-discipline in My life and take responsibility for what I say. It makes Me feel real and makes Me feel good that I am a decent person who tells the truth. However, because bullshit is so prevelent on sites like these people who tell the truth are not believed any more than those who spin lies around their fantasies. This is one of the reasons I decided to do this Web site and write about things like this. Not that I am some goody-two shoes, but the traditions that I follow mean something to Me. Being a Master means that I must take responsibility and be accountable to those I speak to. It is the same as any type of Master, Tai Chi, Buddhist, Professor, etc. In order to be respected one must respect themselves. So...

Back to the question? Why don't people just represent themselves honestly on the Internet? I recently had an experience with a so-called slave that I met on Recon, that basically lead Me on a wild goose chase of lies and falsehoods. He said his name was Phillip Dube, which I doubt the validity of. He claimed to have some high position at the Abercromie & Fitch Company. Supposedly he lives in Arizona. He posed as a slave and involved Me in his virtual life of lies and untruths. He knew all the right things to say with regard to being a slave. He went through an unbelievably complex set of stories and lies right up until the time that he was supposed to come for a visit. He was driving from Arizona in a motorhome that his aunt left him after she passed away from cancer. The stories were incredibly complex and interwoven. He as always very careful not to reveal very much about his real self or provide any information that would reveal who he really was. I even went as far as contacting the Abercrombie & Fitch Company ((614) 283-6500) to find out if there was such a person that worked for them and of course there was not. It amazed Me on the one hand how anyone could create such a bizarre scenario. Of course the possibility that I was dealing with an unstable person crossed My mind, but the whole ruse was so intricately developed that I doubted the person was insane, just a bit psychotic. In any event, I did not suffer any loss. But I did experience sadness for this person. Of course I did not like what he did, but I could not help having compassion for what sort of taunted, frightened person this must be. The real point is that he created an entire false image...a virtual self that he probably uses to lure in men calling themselves Masters on Recon.

I am not so inexperienced to know that things like this happen in the world all the time. However, it is absolutely effortless to do it with a computer and a Web site. There is no one but the computer and you to know the truth...so you can make the truth appear to be whatever you want it to be and there is not a soul that will call you to be responsible for your dishonesty. That's frightening to Me. In one study entitled "Self-Representations in Immersive Virtual Environments" makes the finding that: " A VRS (virtual self) that can be created to appear younger, more attractive, or thinner than the person behind it gives people the ability to have a high degree of control over the impressions that others form of them and provides insight regarding an individual's self-presentation." Many people do not have the ability to change their lives in ways that they can with a virtual self. If a person is overweight they will, given the option, make themselves appear less overweight. I believe that this is why there is the likelihood that there is such a high percentage of people who are not real or honest on sites like Recon...because they can make their virtual selves appear better than their real selves. While on the site people can be whoever they want to appear to be. If enough people do this then eventually the utility of the site will become useless. Thos who are not true and create a virtual persona will know that if they are doing it then others most certainly are doing it so the utlity of the site (the purpose) will no longer be effective; the memebers themselves will be the innevitable downfall of the site.

What about the entertainment factor? But if the site is merely entertainment and people lose faith in the ability of the site to give them what they seek then the site will be relegated to just another entertainment site with no real intrinsic value. As My friend suggested, perhaps people don't want the truth. Perhaps becauase people expect to be lied to they do so in return. It becomes an entertainment game with not real value for finding any real human connection. Maybe he is right. Maybe people simply want the fantasy. If that is the case then the creators of the site should not market a site for anything but fantasy role play. But we all know if they did that no one would pay for membership. The memebers of these sites, like Recon, should not expect to be able to use the site for anything than a hookup for sex. In My experience it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine who is real and who is not. In any case it takes an investment of a lot of time and work. Just as My experience with Philip Dube of Arizona, there was little that I could do to determine if his story was true or not. In some cases you must position your attitude to be patient and wait for the truth to reveal itself without getting yourself or your life involved. However, if you treat everyone like they are some sort of pathological liar then what's the point of a site like Recon? The site is already useless.

Just like the dialog in the movie Network where Peter Finch says, " The Internet deals in illusions...none of it is true! But you people sit there, day after day, night after night. All ages, colors, creeds; the Internet is all you know. You are beginning to believe the illusions the Internet is spinning. You're beginning to think that the Internet is reality and that your own lives are unreal.". Well this is a perfect example of herd mentality isn't it. Everyone follows the herd or you get left out or left behind. If you have the courage to stand alone; to sound different than everyone else you will be ridiculed for it. In My own personal case, I started this site and write the things I see becuase I became utterly exhausted and discouraged by the bullshit and rediculousness of sites like Recon. However, where else is there to hand your shingle? For the most part the bar culture is a thing of the past. Why drive to a bar, waste your gas, when you can sit at home, dick in hand and the other on the mouse sitting in front of a computer with a video cam having virtual sex? Why have to get dressed and drive to a place where you have to interract with other people. It is much easier to advertise for sex now and put in your order and wait for someone to deliver it. Without ever realizing it the Internet becomes all you ever do and all you know. By osmosis (absorbption) you cannot see where you leave off and your virtual self begins. You are beginning to believe the illusions.

References
Stamford Self-Representations in Immersive Virtual Environments
Virtual Humans and Persuasion: The Effects of Agency and Behavioral Realism
A New Disorder is Born
On Therapy and Dependency
The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior
Stamford Virtual Human Interaction Labs