I feel compelled to share this song with the world. It just makes me happy.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
World Wide Weird
If the Internet has taught me one thing, then it is that I am not so weird. When I search the Web for information, I almost always find a page or a site with a multitude of facts, figures, pictures, and statements regarding the subject for which I searched. This is especially impressive because I seek knowledge on a great variety of random and rare topics; I am the self-proclaimed queen of obscure facts. Sometimes, I search for outrageously odd things just to see if I get any results — I do. I always find what I want on the Web. Actually, I usually find more than I want.
This phenomenon is especially comforting when it comes to self-diagnosis. If I begin to experience sickness symptoms of any sort, be it sore throat, rash, drowsiness, or headache, then I search the Web to discover what illness might be plaguing my system. On the Web, I find that many other humans have suffered from the same symptoms as I, and that, in some twisted way, puts me at ease. Knowing that other people have lived through a similar ailment, and have been so generous as to provide electronic testimony on the matter, assures me that I am likely not experiencing the symptoms of an incurable disease. Thank you, WebMD.
Unfortunately, the power of the Internet also has evil effects. The Web has convinced me that I am not alarmingly weird, yet it has also made me feel that I am incapable of producing original ideas. Whenever, I think that I have discovered some genuinely unique perspective, I find similar (or better) perspective on the Web. The Internet makes me feel like there is nothing I could do that hasn't been done, say that hasn't been said, or even think that hasn't been thought. Due to this, I sometimes refuse to reference the Web for information. This type of self-restriction is somewhat brutal; the Web compels me to search it. But by restricting myself, my ideas remain to be only my ideas; avoiding the Internet preserves my creative genius. And yes, I am using the term "genius" loosely.
The World Wide Web is remarkable. I am truly and utterly amazed by it and thankful for it. However, I appreciate a bit of "weird" every now and then, and I hate that the Web makes me feel so overwhelmingly normal. The World Wide Web and I have a love-hate relationship. I love that it assures me that I am not supremely strange, yet I hate that it makes me feel as if I have no imaginative thoughts.
I wonder if anyone else has this type of ambivalent relationship with the Web. Perhaps, I will Google it . . .
This phenomenon is especially comforting when it comes to self-diagnosis. If I begin to experience sickness symptoms of any sort, be it sore throat, rash, drowsiness, or headache, then I search the Web to discover what illness might be plaguing my system. On the Web, I find that many other humans have suffered from the same symptoms as I, and that, in some twisted way, puts me at ease. Knowing that other people have lived through a similar ailment, and have been so generous as to provide electronic testimony on the matter, assures me that I am likely not experiencing the symptoms of an incurable disease. Thank you, WebMD.
Unfortunately, the power of the Internet also has evil effects. The Web has convinced me that I am not alarmingly weird, yet it has also made me feel that I am incapable of producing original ideas. Whenever, I think that I have discovered some genuinely unique perspective, I find similar (or better) perspective on the Web. The Internet makes me feel like there is nothing I could do that hasn't been done, say that hasn't been said, or even think that hasn't been thought. Due to this, I sometimes refuse to reference the Web for information. This type of self-restriction is somewhat brutal; the Web compels me to search it. But by restricting myself, my ideas remain to be only my ideas; avoiding the Internet preserves my creative genius. And yes, I am using the term "genius" loosely.
The World Wide Web is remarkable. I am truly and utterly amazed by it and thankful for it. However, I appreciate a bit of "weird" every now and then, and I hate that the Web makes me feel so overwhelmingly normal. The World Wide Web and I have a love-hate relationship. I love that it assures me that I am not supremely strange, yet I hate that it makes me feel as if I have no imaginative thoughts.
I wonder if anyone else has this type of ambivalent relationship with the Web. Perhaps, I will Google it . . .
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