I still haven't figured out RSS

Another little note about this facebook thing. There are people who make films about the making of films, there are people who write books about writing books, so this is just another post about the art of posting. As a start, perhaps I should clarify the references in the last note.

Firstly, Milan Kundera wrote a famous novel in the early 1980s, and the English translation was called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". I never finished reading it, but got far enough through to understand that the main obsession of the narrator was the issue of sentient existence and in particular the living nightmare of not being able to know the true consequences our decisions until they have actually been played out. Hence the need for a second life. Hence the reference to the internet. Bring on Web 3.0

I suppose I should mention at this point that my actual posting was spurred by a comment on my facebook wall. In the world described by Roger Waters in an album released in 1979, the Wall is a barrier behind which we can stay isolated from the "cruel world" outside. But once again the internet has caught up with us. The wall is now not just a place to hide behind, but a place for the world outside to record their thoughts too. So it is a way of letting people in and not a way of keeping people out.

Anyway, although this particular comment on my wall was a single four letter word that is shocking and offensive - no problem, it was perfectly fair and true! Though I had a valid explanation, I couldn't explain myself in just another word or two, so it needed a full "note" for it. And then I think that note might need explaining… it goes on and on… yes I see how this blogging idea could really take off :)

The unshareable brightness of fleeing

I presume that Second Life was created to make money rather than to address metaphysical philosophy, but I think Milan Kundera's famous book is based on the pain of not having another life in which the consequences of our decisions can be played out. But he wrote it before we had the internet!

OK, so Facebook is not a Second Life. But neither is it really integral to my First Life. Some people who are very closest to me are not here. And I can't imagine keeping this place updated with my status daily or weekly, let alone hourly. Yes, it is a great way to keep in touch with friends. But it is still a little like a wall to keep yourself in, as well as to reach yourself out.

Obviously I'm not talking about bricks and mortar. From 1979 I used to think a wall was a barrier behind which you could stay comfortably numb from the cruel world outside. Now a wall is just a convenient place for everybody to write their graffiti. That's fine .. go ahead :)