virtualists and literalists
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Blogosphere, Thoughts about Life
I was exchanging gunfire…er email…with my friend who is codenamed "The Roman", when a thought struck me and I prattled out the following. It is a quick write, but to me it may be a bit of an epiphany. I’ve cleaned up a sentence or two for clarity and punctuation.
There are two kinds of people on the web, virtualists and literalists. The virtualists think of the web as a different world, one where they are not bound by normal limits and where they can indulge more outrageous and aggressive parts of their personality. The literalists treat it as an extension of the real world and they behave on the web much as they do in real life. Perhaps even think of them as virtual legalists versus virtual moralists. The legalists think anything they can’t be arrested, prosecuted and jailed and/or fined for is okay. The moralists believe there are standards above and beyond this, think Jimmy Stewart in The Philadephia Story, long a role model for my construct of conduct. Where do you think I get the concept "You were a bit worse for the wine and there are rules about that" that I have used 100 times or more?
I have always been a literalist, always will be…but I understand the virtualist mindset and accept it. The fun part (tongue planted firmly in cheek) is when literalists and virtualists connect. The literalists tend to take the virtualists too seriously, the virtualists tend to think that their conduct on the web is like a video game, not real…
But it’s almost a spiritual dichotomy, like Jesus said, what you dwell upon, you have done. ("I say to you if a man even looks upon a woman with lust in his heart he is guilty…"). I almost went the other way and became a virtualist, it was tempting and I dabbled, early on, there have been those who have tried to get me onto that side of the world, but in the end I realised I am far too concerned for other people’s feelings and well-being to ever presume or assume I am dealing with virtualists all the time…I presume everyone is a literalist, everyone is taking what I do or say as seriously as real life.
It doesn’t make me better, just different, from a lot of the people I meet. And, let’s face it, virtualists are more fun.
So when you see me write something, don’t worry, there is no hidden agenda, that’s me. When I say love I mean love, when I say angry, I am angry, and when I touch people or they touch me, it is as real as in the same room to the same intent. I can’t live my life by any other standard. For good or for bad, whether you want to trust me, believe in me, accept me or even love me, I am what I am, a literalist. I accept responsibility for every action, every word, every implication I engage in online. A kiss at 800, 8,000 or 12,000 miles is still a kiss. The fundamental things apply…as time goes by.
Quick joke. There’s 10 kinds of people in the world, those who can count in binary and those who can’t.
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