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NODAL_SELF

                                               June 20, 2011

An old thought with me:                                   SELF

  "The self is a node in
  an information network".

Sometimes I phrase it more or less
tentatively.  I don't think I've
ever tried to "prove" it, but then      In long periods of solitary
I think it's really pretty obvious.     confinement, the self
                                        dwindles to nothing.

The main reason I'm
reluctant to just go
with it:

There's a history of drawing
analogies between human beings
and whatever technology is       Brain = computer was popular
dominant at the moment.          for awhile, now we're more
                                 interested in networks...

                                   Once, people liked
                                   analogies to steam     Or mechanical
                                   engines.               clocks.

                                   "Sometimes, you        TOYING_WITH_TECH
                                   just need to blow
                                   off steam".


   And an old question with me
   is "given this, what do you
   do with it?"

   But there are some obvious answers to
   that, also.  Don't get stuck on the             NOVELTY_AGAIN
   idea that you can be an "island self",
   a lone heroic individual.

      Maintaining mental health requires
      a "healthy environment".

      Self-reinvention becomes a matter
      of manipulating the inputs.
                                                             LETTERS_FROM_EARTH
         Changing the people you associate
         with, the media you consume...






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