50 Things Being Destroyed by the Internet

Matthew Moore of The Daily Telegraph has a list of fifty technological or cultural features being destroyed by the Internet. Here's the link to the article and here are a few samples. What would you add to the list?

3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There's no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will "album albums" like Radiohead's Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?

13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the "mere" storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.

22) Enforceable copyright
The record companies, film studios and news agencies are fighting back, but can the floodgates ever be closed?…

Social Media

I used to teach a course called Communications at the college I work at - if I still were - this would be my opening video. Welcome to a world of social media! It has its own interpersonal issues, strengths, weaknesses and it literally is changing the way we communicate, the way we relate, the way we even life our lives.

The "Facebook Family" Revolution

I originally posted this as a note on facebook but thought it was blogworthy as well with a few minor edits to make it likewise blogger-related:

This whole facebook "thing" is a unique sort of a revolution. Although I suppose all revolutions are unique...The curious thing about this particular revolution is that it is about connecting people into relationships, into community, into conversation. I suppose blogging does this as well to those "connected" to ones' blog but somehow facebook is more relationship-oriented.

Facebook is not about simply exchanging facts or ideas, but rather exchanging our lives. Don't you wish real life was more like facebook? Where you actually engaged people in real conversations over a coffee or coke? But we don't have time for that because of the busyness of our life - do we? So we wait (typically) for the hours after most have gone to bed and blog, post notes, poke people, or send private messages to our facebook family. How many of you check facebook (or your blog) throughout the day to see if someone has left you note?

The other thing that strikes me about facebook (which blogging did to a point) is that I've reignited so many relationships from my past, from my college years in particular - the time in which my relationships didn't have a lot to do with who I was related to but with whom I actually had something in common with. Facebook in many ways has brought that past back from the dead to life - or at least an online version of life. It has also reconnected me to friends from all over the world.

I still believe that a face-to-face conversation still trumps anything that facebook attempts to do but I will say that this networking has the potential of bringing such a face-to-face conversation into life as well!

So know that you've endured my meandering musings - consider yourself poked and feel free to dialogue or be in conversation whether you like the topic of facebook or not!

Some questions for further conversation: What joys has facebook (or blogging) brought to you? How is blogging like facebook? How does it differ or is blogging unique?

More Houses: The Bubble House

Pierre Cardin's residence by Antti Lovag is one part house, two parts hallucination, here's a site with lots of photos and another that describes the house further.

Extreme Houses

I came across this cool article from Popular Science about how some researchers are looking into designing a house that grows.

"Architects Mitchell Joachim and Javier Arbona, along with environmental engineer Lara Greden, have designed a house that will grow from a few seedlings into a two-story, water-recycling, energy-efficient abode. The Fab Tree Hab, a mix of ancient and ultramodern technology, isn’t merely environmentally friendly. It is the environment.

Instead of building a home out of green materials, the trio figured, why not construct a living, breathing house? “Something that’s alive and thriving,” Joachim says. They hope to plant the first house within five years, but for now, they’re working with Israeli arboriculture firm Plantware, testing techniques for growing the lattice-like weave of vines and roots that will form the walls." (Popular Science)

I still have fond memories from all the tree houses I built as a young boy - it is amazing how creative a guy can be with a few 2X4's, hammer, nail, & rope. I remember even construction a fireplace with some derelict brick I reclaimed from a neighbours refuse pile. So to imagine a house made from living trees fascinates me still!

Another alternative home design is underground and I came across this site which describes the home of a fellow Canadian William Lishman - very creative! Somehow reminds me of Hobbiton though...not quite as a original as the grow-your-own home idea above but still cool! The other interesting thing about Lishman is that the film Fly Away Home is about his adventures - remember the film about the guy flying the ultralight and leading geese on a migratory route?

Another take on tree houses - is the Free Spirit Sphere - basically an orb that is a small living space that you hang between trees. The Canadian company designing them is marketing them world wide including epic places like Costa Rica!

Facebook

I gave in and registered my persona into facebook a few weeks ago. I've been amazed at who I've found - long lost college friends, fellow camp workers, etc. Very cool format and way less annoying than myspace although apparently just as addictive. More interactive than blogging but not as self-reflective. I'm still keeping up my journals here but for connecting with friends & family - facebook nails it.

I had a student do an excellent report on Youth & the Internet - excellent tool that can be used in a good way or a negative way. He noted that spending too much time on the Internet can result in addiction or at a minimum a false sense of community. I agree there is nothing like flesh & blood relationships but i marvel at how much more connected I do feel with friends far away. I also see the danger on spending too much time online and not enough time & presence on face to face relationships.

Soundtrack to post: "Young Folks" - Peter Bjorn And John

Exploring Community

I've been chatting off and on with a few friends about what it would look like to create a more environmentally-friendly way of living that is more cost-effective? Right now to live off the grid is still has significant start-up costs but it would be much more economical to group multiple families together and share this enviro-technology. The other benefit to living with multiple family units is instant community along with the shared cost-savings! Ever thought about communal living?

My wife and I lived in a house with 6 other single young adults for a year (98-99) while going through a leadership development program at Medeba, a Christian adventure-focused camp in Ontario. It took some getting used to as a married couple living with singles but I can honestly say that overall it was an amazing experience. We had our private bedroom to ourselves but every other aspect of the house was shared. We had a rotating schedule with meal prep and clean-up, menu planning and shopping, etc. We shared the costs of living, computers & internet, TV, phone, etc. There were obvious struggles and conflicts but I think we learned much about interpersonal processes and real community through it all. There would obviously be some added challenges having kids in that setting but perhaps the benefit of babysitters in the next room over would offset that!

Don't get me wrong I love the house we live in right now as a family, the space and privacy we definitely enjoy but we also love being with other people! Is there a way of designing a housing complex that allows for both privacy when you want it but the option of community for times of meals and other social events? Benefits of such a Utopian communal lifestyle: stimulating conversations, support for one another during times of struggle, a sustainable and more balance living with the sharing of responsibilities in the maintenance and operation of a home, etc.

As a person of faith, I try to follow the teachings of Jesus and I see a clear call for followers of His way of living to reach out to others, to be in community, to share with others, to help those in need. Our society seems so opposite: is all about personal gain, materialism, individualism, competitiveness, keeping busy, privacy, and the result is loneliness and under-developed relationships. Most families need two incomes to survive financially - at least with so-called luxuries we choose like two cars, large houses, etc. That means both parents work while our children are raised by a public school system or public/private daycare. Considering the blundering of our governments - why would you trust a "politician" to raise your children. I don't even want to start talking politics on a blog as there isn't a party that I can fully agree with. Power corrupts - politics needs to be minimized or it gets out of control.

Getting back to community! Picture this - a small farm-like housing complex with a central community room (made up of a living area, kitchen, dining, etc.) and then separate hallways that took you to private living spaces for family units that could be divided into rooms as well. Perhaps wind technology combined with solar to provide electricity, some type of a geothermal heating/cooling system, would bring down the monthly costs we all endure but clearly take away from our lifestyle. Anyways - this is just a musing and not anything too serious at this point but I think it is good to explore ways to live differently and obviously live in ways that do not harm the environment. Part of my faith system is quite clear in that we are called to be stewards of this planet and its resources.

Community Part II

I'm in the thick of "prepdom" and teaching - the depth & height of it all I suppose. I love the classroom and stretching those teaching muscles that may have atrophied some over the summer. What is community? It is a question we are investigating in my Interpersonal Processes (Communications) class.

I believe I introduced those few readers of "Musings" to a bit of Martin Buber's take on community but here's a quick refresher: Buber (yes - he has rather unfortunate name) sees three types of relationships on our planet - relationships with people we view as objects (I-Its), people we acknowledge and interact with at some level (I-You), and people that we actually connect with and express ourselves, our beings to (I-Thou). On a continuum it is a move from an impersonal relationship to a interpersonal relationship. The difference is as radical as the relationships you have with your gas jockey to your spouse/love interest.

I believe that we have all been created for relationship and for community. We all long to feel acknowledged, to be more than simply an object or corporate pawn. We all desire to love and be loved. Without love - we have no hope and no faith in humanity or in a relevant concept of God.

I'm sure many of you were struck with shock & horror when viewing CNN or whatever news medium you check daily by the atrocities of the terrorists in Chechnya. How could these extremist Muslims actually kill innocent children, teachers, and parents? For that matter - how can anyone kill another human being?

I think the only way that we as humankind can actually kill each other is when we deny another's existence. In other words - we can only kill when we treat others as not human, as objects, as its. We obviously have no problem with killing "enemies" in a video game - no one actually lost their life, these computer generated people have no job to go back to or families to feed or purpose in life. They are simply pawns for our perhaps warped amusement. Fighter pilots who flew missions over Iraq do not see people on the ground below but strategic targets.

Here's another random thought - maybe we are killing people daily unintentionally by our not acknowledging their existence. Maybe by not striving to get to know our waiters, our bus-drivers, our custodial staff - we are causing others to question their self-worth?

I-Thou relationships admittedly are rare and it is obviously impossible for us to have each one of our relationships be that deep. But I think our world would change radically if we would at least attempt to treat people we meet as more than objects, that we recognize the importance of being acknowledged and treating others respectively.

G

Shalom Revisited

For the past few weeks I have felt led to discuss & explore the Jewish concepts of Shalom & Sabbath. Why - you ask? For one I think every person has within in them a longing for peace & rest. I live in a culture that longs for both but seems to have lost both the art & science of finding it. We were created for Eden but have been cursed with the sting of death by sin. Like a confused deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car - we freeze in shock of our impending death not knowing what to do. I chuckle as I drive down my city's streets and see the health stores & gyms& wellness centres. We desire to live forever but believe the lie that our money can buy happiness & health.

What is shalom you ask? I refered to it as peace above and it is commonly known as a Jewish greeting. Much like our own North American greetings - it has lost its meaning over time. How are doing? is not a question looking for an honest reply but a way of breaking the ice. Shalom is about restoring what has been lost or broken. Shalom exists when the prodigal son comes home to his Father. Shalom exists when a child is born into this world. Shalom exists when we seek God in prayer. Shalom is about mending relationships with God, with people, and with creation.

In Brian McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian, there is a scene when one of the characters defines religion. Neo’s description of religion also describes the intent of the concept of Shalom. “The old Latin roots of the word simply mean ‘reconnecting,’ you know—broken ligaments, severed connections, being reconnected and defragmented. That sounds like exactly what we need, don’t you think? We’re ‘deligamented,’ disconnected, fragmented people who need to be‘religamented,’ reconnected, put back together with God, with on another, reintegrated within ourselves, reconnected to the world we are part of.” I desire this blog to be a place where Shalom reigns or is at the very least rekindled.

Community

I'm in the midst of prepping yet another college course - this time Interpersonal Processes. It is a fancy title that basically refers to how we communicate within relationships with other people. At first I was a bit nervous with teaching the course as in the past it was taught from more a counselor-type perspective. I soon began to realize though that I could take a different approach - more of a facilitator approach that suits my abilities in experiential initiatives & exercises.

I have always been curious as to how people respond in situation involving a problem to be solved, a conflict, or even a crisis. How do you communicate with others when there is a fire, you are a witness to a robbery, you are involved in an accident? How do you communicate with your spouse when you don't disagree with a decision he or she has made? How would we cope with not being able to communicate with someone?

Over the summer, I like to challenge myself with difficult 'reads' - books that I have to reread and digest before I can come to a conclusion about. Books by thought-provoking authors like Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Pascal, Commenius, etc. One of the books I am still in the process of reading is entitled 'I & Thou' and is written by a Hasidic Jew by the name of Martin Buber. His basic premise is that humankind was created to interact with each other in community. I-It relationships are not what God intended - in other words treating people like objects simply goes against his eternal design. I-You draws near to Buber's ideal of mutuality & equality within relationship but the ideal is I-Thou. I-Thou is the highest form of human communication because each person affirms the other as of great value and unique. It goes even further in acknowledging the need for relationship with God.

Who are we? We are designed to be involved with each other. We are designed for relationship & community. We are designed to communicate with Creation & the Creator. We are the human race - fallen but ready to take flight in community.

G