> instant reaction
sitting amidst a lone table lamp light for the last hour, after a supper-session with an old friend, soaking in the currently pseudo-supressed flaming contention brewing amidst the local blogscape (and i'd rather use that than "blogosphere" muahahaha) and thinking it is rather a "blogscape" becoz essentially, tis all flat, innit? not a degratory term, i insist, but rather a clearer description (to me anyways) on the mentality of some bloggers (which i do not pretend to know of or be an expert on, mind) that i find myself reading tonight ...
indulge me as i hark back on days of yore, when "a computer", much less the "internet", was nothing but a fantasy dream, mere "science-fiction" ... remember those days? ... you young'uns might need to put in a bit more "imagination" into this tho (and i sincerely doubt if any young'uns are even IN here, reading my dribble IN THE FIRST PLACE ... HAH) ... when "communication" was either via (A) face to face, (B) a landline (ie1: house / office / public-phone ... ie2: mobile phones/SMS/MMS existed not) and (C) written / typed letters; mailed to individuals, or posted to newspapers (to complain in the forum pages) ... imagine that ... "delayed communications", as opposed to the instantaneous gratification of sharing and/or purging that has become the indefinite-definition of the new millennium ... imagine that ...
tho let's not go into "the written diary" = for that has been and will probably always be essentially "private", in all sense of the word ... becoz "blogs"; tho by current definition, is an "online diary" = it nary functions by way of "privacy" in the sense of the aforementioned. (unless you'd know where to hide the friggin diary and not let your father/mother find out where it is lah = then you're just plainly "stoopid", innit? ... d'oh! ;p ... but i digress ...
and with such "limitations" back then, when something runs afoul of the norm, what did we do about it?
let's use as an example: the (dreaded) NKF Saga.
the catalyst:
we read about the entire thing in the newspapers. we watch the telly do their expose.
the reaction:
we are damned pissed. we are boiling within to explode our rants and complaints unto the "public".
the action taken:
(1) we go to the organization's office and bang on doors and tables. we picket the entrance. we deface their signage.
(2) we call up the organization; to demand answers and to share our outrage.
(and maybe even callup family and frens = more peeps to go down personnally to the office, to bang door and table)
(3) we write angry letters; demanding answers and expressing our outrage, to the organization ... but mostly to the newspapers'complaint forum pages, to express our deepest hurt and disgust.
with the exception of the phone-calling (by default) and going down to the location itself, everything else is "delayed response".
... in some cases (and no, i do not have any tangible figures, tho i'd like to think this would have happen): becoz of the delayed response time, there might have been some respite given to the boiling feelings amongst the angry-folks; a chance for things "to simmer down", even by just a tad ... a person on the verge of physical violence at the highest peak-of-pissed-dom ~ might calm down a wee, to be a person on the verge of verbal-assault ... but maybe im just naive and have not seen people at their worst ... but i believe i have ... and i myself have been in them tattered-boots as well ...
becoz we human beings are such reactionary creatures as well, when faced with an adversity or injustice, we would seemingly recognize it and mayhap even identify with it, immediately ... hence the anger with the hooha that was the the NKF-Saga ... tis just the different levels of "action" we (can) take, that differentiates us from each other ...
"delayed response levels and conditions"
fast-forward to the now
the catalyst and reactions are the same. but what of the action taken?
log on. type. publish post. = all in immediate succession.
followed by: leave comments. flame the "perpetrators".
which is all good and hella an "improvement" on "response time", innit? ~ INSTANT, YA KNOW?
and ya can technocratigooglewhateveronlinesearchengine-about it. NEAR INSTANTLY.
the fucking wonders of modern technology, innit?
and NO, im not knocking it at all (okay, just a little bit lah ;p) ... heck, the positive impact of modern technology is endless as well ... but this ain't about that, so dun need to start, cool? :)
let's meander a little bit on "shared public knowledge", shall we?
imagine/remember this:
where once, when you want your reactions to be published in the papers for the world to read, your responses had to be measured and worded "right" (enough), to even be published.
even with the current publications of the opposition political parties (which i admittedly have never read in my entire life), i would only assume that words are carefully "expressed", to have that level of "credibility", regardless of the content and intent. (but i dun wanna be threading on politcal thresholds here, so back-off if ya intend to start, cool?)
people felt first. then they thought thru how to word their feelings. and then they put to paper. = that's how things were done in the old days.
and NO, i ain't going on a fossilized-pedestal to say peeps DON'T do that nowsadays, mind ... im taking on the "extreme" example here, cool?
but now? we go online and whack the muthafcuker and hard, instantly. ... regardless of knowing the actual "truths" and situations that pertain to it? ... we feel, therefore; we are? ... 'nuff said?
questions to no one in particular:
have we become so spoilt with the technology and advancement around us, that we don't need to give a damn anymore? that there is no "pause for thought"? that consequences are but a "delete button" away? have we all but taken for granted; the instant gratification that we think we are entitled (had to sneak that in somehow, innit? heh) to, in this day and cyberage?
hell, im guilty of it as heck, lemme tell you ... i have read and judged, unknowing of the fully story (that most times aren't even connected to me in any physical way) ... i have reacted from hurt-false-pride rather than thru tempered mindful reasoning ... i have stirred myself up into a hornet's nest of fury and have purged and lashed out blindly into the cyber-wilderness (re: an angryblog by an angryman = i am not known for my innate skills in zen-philosophy and actions, lemme tell youse. heh) ~ instantly ...
judgement is but a few keys and a button away.
*click*
an example (which is also the impetus of thisrunaround farce entry) is the SIArong PartyGirl-debacle.
(no need links here as i dun intend to continue flaming the by-now-hopefully-ambers, innit?)
and yes, everyone is entitled to have their opinions and mayhap even their judgements, i deny it not ... and no, actually i dun really care much if who's wrong or right, becoz maybe it doesn't matter to me one iota ... maybe morally my issue ain't worth a mount of beans to be pissed about anything ... or maybe it's just "their" business and not mine? sure as heck "apathy" dun factor into this, coz there's way more other worthwhile issues to already contend with, in the real world ... tho i do enjoy myself emmensely within the cyber-realms so ... so exciting, the fightings going on! like arcade games like that! ... BAH
and the more i let myself delve into the local blogscape ~ as much as the positivity that glows from many a unique individuals, the more i see the pervasive ugliness that is the other side of the coin; like a rising tide of human-waste that threatens to engulf and drown the land and sully the spirit of "freedom", as it is so loosely, carelessly and callously thrown around nowsadays ... an "excuse" disguised as a form of "self-expression"; a reason-for-"being".
flame wars are such ugly things. "i smarter than you, asswipe" ... "you're speeling and grammar sucks, muthafcuker." ... "you are wrong." ... "i am right." ... i read of obvious-"intelligent folks" lashing out at each other, with restrained abandon and i shrug ... like kids fighting amidst a small sandbox that which is singapore, but armed with the powers of "words". and more often than not, the "intent" is left stranded and forgotten ...
justification of one's feelings is granted, but forcing your own opinions onto others? and that is a rapidly-diminishing-thinline thatis the grey-border-area of blogging-EQ (tho i dun pretend to fully know nor practise it extensively) that i see disappearing on the blogscape, amongst the very few and unfortunately, the very vocal.
the irony being: vocal in what context? within their own sphere of influence? or the sphere that is the "blogosphere"? the "come fight in my own backyard-which-is-my-own-blog" = disappears into a puff of smoke, coz everyone's doing it in everyone else's "backyard", innit? ahahahahahha "nobody come fight with me, so i go out and pick a fight" ... scenes of David Fincher's excellent Fight Club flashes into mind ... whereby one of the tasks was to go pick a fight ... heh ... and tis a hard thing to do apparently, tho so much easier within the anonymity of the web, innit? okay, i stop digressing now ... :p
but there comes a time, when one thinks one can tell what someone else is doing: is right or wrong? who the fcuk are YOU to judge, in the first place? (disclaimer: of coz the "obvious" moral ones do apply lah, duh)
tho i remember seeing these happening constantly in/on online-forums, times past ... hhmmm ...
and i lurve it when: you've been reading his/her blog since the dawn of time ... and hence you think you KNOW that person ... ??? ... tis just his/her blog, for pete's sake? not his/her life? or is it? does anyone ever knows fer shure?
keyword: read.
heck, if you know that person, personnally = power to you, innit? :)
imagine this scenario: you get shitte from a security guard. dude gives you one kind of attitude. you surmise that the muthafcuker's pissed that he's in a lower position than you and/or earns lesser than you, hence he is being vindictive and then "abuses" his "authority" to give you endless hours of shitte. he should die a muthafcuker's death.
so, are you "right"? and he is "wrong"? ... of coz given the situation and word from both sides of the fence, then can we ever judge, innit? but that nary happens, dunnit? you feel = hence that is enough.
*raises hand; in guilt*
tho i admit, that ain't exactly a good parallel or metaphor, innit? heh. but i liketatalk cock digress lah ... ;p
"blogscape" = becoz the general thinking is relatively linear and not-all-encompassing, a blossoming spherical-dynamic that threatens to turn into a vicious cycle running around in circles ... let it not become "that steel ball cage-of-death; where motorbikers speeds around in" (fcuked if i knew what it's called, innit? couldn't find it on google and itz near 6am and i need sleep ... *excuse* ;p) ... tho i hope that i am wrong ... but what do i know of such things? who the fcuk am i to judge, anyways, innit?
i am not here to tell you or anyone what to do. nobody can ... or can they?
and in the very end, what's our excuse? we are only human? ... then we are but humans with dangerous tools, innit? the easily-accessible-tools-of-instant-"communication" ... let the world beware ...
or then again, maybe i should just bloody-mind me-own-fcukin-business, innit? HAH! ;p
strung-up on 3 teh tariks and a wintermelon-drink, copious amount of nicotine and a tummy-upset from the homemade-cucumbers-drowned-in-vinegar-chinastyled-archar; partaked during dinner earlier and heightened with my diminishing vampyric skill of keeping lucidly-awake til near-seven-fcuking-AM in the morning, i offer my half-felt apologies for a fragmented entry to both of my readers ~ yes; YOU and YOU ... and bid thee adieu and goodnight ... dun i sound posh, eh? but pay me no mind, i 'O' level only ... heh ... *snore*
indulge me as i hark back on days of yore, when "a computer", much less the "internet", was nothing but a fantasy dream, mere "science-fiction" ... remember those days? ... you young'uns might need to put in a bit more "imagination" into this tho (and i sincerely doubt if any young'uns are even IN here, reading my dribble IN THE FIRST PLACE ... HAH) ... when "communication" was either via (A) face to face, (B) a landline (ie1: house / office / public-phone ... ie2: mobile phones/SMS/MMS existed not) and (C) written / typed letters; mailed to individuals, or posted to newspapers (to complain in the forum pages) ... imagine that ... "delayed communications", as opposed to the instantaneous gratification of sharing and/or purging that has become the indefinite-definition of the new millennium ... imagine that ...
tho let's not go into "the written diary" = for that has been and will probably always be essentially "private", in all sense of the word ... becoz "blogs"; tho by current definition, is an "online diary" = it nary functions by way of "privacy" in the sense of the aforementioned. (unless you'd know where to hide the friggin diary and not let your father/mother find out where it is lah = then you're just plainly "stoopid", innit? ... d'oh! ;p ... but i digress ...
and with such "limitations" back then, when something runs afoul of the norm, what did we do about it?
let's use as an example: the (dreaded) NKF Saga.
the catalyst:
we read about the entire thing in the newspapers. we watch the telly do their expose.
the reaction:
we are damned pissed. we are boiling within to explode our rants and complaints unto the "public".
the action taken:
(1) we go to the organization's office and bang on doors and tables. we picket the entrance. we deface their signage.
(2) we call up the organization; to demand answers and to share our outrage.
(and maybe even callup family and frens = more peeps to go down personnally to the office, to bang door and table)
(3) we write angry letters; demanding answers and expressing our outrage, to the organization ... but mostly to the newspapers'
with the exception of the phone-calling (by default) and going down to the location itself, everything else is "delayed response".
... in some cases (and no, i do not have any tangible figures, tho i'd like to think this would have happen): becoz of the delayed response time, there might have been some respite given to the boiling feelings amongst the angry-folks; a chance for things "to simmer down", even by just a tad ... a person on the verge of physical violence at the highest peak-of-pissed-dom ~ might calm down a wee, to be a person on the verge of verbal-assault ... but maybe im just naive and have not seen people at their worst ... but i believe i have ... and i myself have been in them tattered-boots as well ...
becoz we human beings are such reactionary creatures as well, when faced with an adversity or injustice, we would seemingly recognize it and mayhap even identify with it, immediately ... hence the anger with the hooha that was the the NKF-Saga ... tis just the different levels of "action" we (can) take, that differentiates us from each other ...
"delayed response levels and conditions"
fast-forward to the now
the catalyst and reactions are the same. but what of the action taken?
log on. type. publish post. = all in immediate succession.
followed by: leave comments. flame the "perpetrators".
which is all good and hella an "improvement" on "response time", innit? ~ INSTANT, YA KNOW?
and ya can technocratigooglewhateveronlinesearchengine-about it. NEAR INSTANTLY.
the fucking wonders of modern technology, innit?
and NO, im not knocking it at all (okay, just a little bit lah ;p) ... heck, the positive impact of modern technology is endless as well ... but this ain't about that, so dun need to start, cool? :)
let's meander a little bit on "shared public knowledge", shall we?
imagine/remember this:
where once, when you want your reactions to be published in the papers for the world to read, your responses had to be measured and worded "right" (enough), to even be published.
even with the current publications of the opposition political parties (which i admittedly have never read in my entire life), i would only assume that words are carefully "expressed", to have that level of "credibility", regardless of the content and intent. (but i dun wanna be threading on politcal thresholds here, so back-off if ya intend to start, cool?)
people felt first. then they thought thru how to word their feelings. and then they put to paper. = that's how things were done in the old days.
and NO, i ain't going on a fossilized-pedestal to say peeps DON'T do that nowsadays, mind ... im taking on the "extreme" example here, cool?
but now? we go online and whack the muthafcuker and hard, instantly. ... regardless of knowing the actual "truths" and situations that pertain to it? ... we feel, therefore; we are? ... 'nuff said?
questions to no one in particular:
have we become so spoilt with the technology and advancement around us, that we don't need to give a damn anymore? that there is no "pause for thought"? that consequences are but a "delete button" away? have we all but taken for granted; the instant gratification that we think we are entitled (had to sneak that in somehow, innit? heh) to, in this day and cyberage?
hell, im guilty of it as heck, lemme tell you ... i have read and judged, unknowing of the fully story (that most times aren't even connected to me in any physical way) ... i have reacted from hurt-false-pride rather than thru tempered mindful reasoning ... i have stirred myself up into a hornet's nest of fury and have purged and lashed out blindly into the cyber-wilderness (re: an angryblog by an angryman = i am not known for my innate skills in zen-philosophy and actions, lemme tell youse. heh) ~ instantly ...
judgement is but a few keys and a button away.
*click*
an example (which is also the impetus of this
(no need links here as i dun intend to continue flaming the by-now-hopefully-ambers, innit?)
and yes, everyone is entitled to have their opinions and mayhap even their judgements, i deny it not ... and no, actually i dun really care much if who's wrong or right, becoz maybe it doesn't matter to me one iota ... maybe morally my issue ain't worth a mount of beans to be pissed about anything ... or maybe it's just "their" business and not mine? sure as heck "apathy" dun factor into this, coz there's way more other worthwhile issues to already contend with, in the real world ... tho i do enjoy myself emmensely within the cyber-realms so ... so exciting, the fightings going on! like arcade games like that! ... BAH
and the more i let myself delve into the local blogscape ~ as much as the positivity that glows from many a unique individuals, the more i see the pervasive ugliness that is the other side of the coin; like a rising tide of human-waste that threatens to engulf and drown the land and sully the spirit of "freedom", as it is so loosely, carelessly and callously thrown around nowsadays ... an "excuse" disguised as a form of "self-expression"; a reason-for-"being".
flame wars are such ugly things. "i smarter than you, asswipe" ... "you're speeling and grammar sucks, muthafcuker." ... "you are wrong." ... "i am right." ... i read of obvious-"intelligent folks" lashing out at each other, with restrained abandon and i shrug ... like kids fighting amidst a small sandbox that which is singapore, but armed with the powers of "words". and more often than not, the "intent" is left stranded and forgotten ...
justification of one's feelings is granted, but forcing your own opinions onto others? and that is a rapidly-diminishing-thinline that
the irony being: vocal in what context? within their own sphere of influence? or the sphere that is the "blogosphere"? the "come fight in my own backyard-which-is-my-own-blog" = disappears into a puff of smoke, coz everyone's doing it in everyone else's "backyard", innit? ahahahahahha "nobody come fight with me, so i go out and pick a fight" ... scenes of David Fincher's excellent Fight Club flashes into mind ... whereby one of the tasks was to go pick a fight ... heh ... and tis a hard thing to do apparently, tho so much easier within the anonymity of the web, innit? okay, i stop digressing now ... :p
but there comes a time, when one thinks one can tell what someone else is doing: is right or wrong? who the fcuk are YOU to judge, in the first place? (disclaimer: of coz the "obvious" moral ones do apply lah, duh)
tho i remember seeing these happening constantly in/on online-forums, times past ... hhmmm ...
and i lurve it when: you've been reading his/her blog since the dawn of time ... and hence you think you KNOW that person ... ??? ... tis just his/her blog, for pete's sake? not his/her life? or is it? does anyone ever knows fer shure?
keyword: read.
heck, if you know that person, personnally = power to you, innit? :)
imagine this scenario: you get shitte from a security guard. dude gives you one kind of attitude. you surmise that the muthafcuker's pissed that he's in a lower position than you and/or earns lesser than you, hence he is being vindictive and then "abuses" his "authority" to give you endless hours of shitte. he should die a muthafcuker's death.
so, are you "right"? and he is "wrong"? ... of coz given the situation and word from both sides of the fence, then can we ever judge, innit? but that nary happens, dunnit? you feel = hence that is enough.
*raises hand; in guilt*
tho i admit, that ain't exactly a good parallel or metaphor, innit? heh. but i liketa
"blogscape" = becoz the general thinking is relatively linear and not-all-encompassing, a blossoming spherical-dynamic that threatens to turn into a vicious cycle running around in circles ... let it not become "that steel ball cage-of-death; where motorbikers speeds around in" (fcuked if i knew what it's called, innit? couldn't find it on google and itz near 6am and i need sleep ... *excuse* ;p) ... tho i hope that i am wrong ... but what do i know of such things? who the fcuk am i to judge, anyways, innit?
i am not here to tell you or anyone what to do. nobody can ... or can they?
and in the very end, what's our excuse? we are only human? ... then we are but humans with dangerous tools, innit? the easily-accessible-tools-of-instant-"communication" ... let the world beware ...
or then again, maybe i should just bloody-mind me-own-fcukin-business, innit? HAH! ;p
strung-up on 3 teh tariks and a wintermelon-drink, copious amount of nicotine and a tummy-upset from the homemade-cucumbers-drowned-in-vinegar-chinastyled-archar; partaked during dinner earlier and heightened with my diminishing vampyric skill of keeping lucidly-awake til near-seven-fcuking-AM in the morning, i offer my half-felt apologies for a fragmented entry to both of my readers ~ yes; YOU and YOU ... and bid thee adieu and goodnight ... dun i sound posh, eh? but pay me no mind, i 'O' level only ... heh ... *snore*
