one of the lectures that had a big impact on me, mostly due to a scare factor, was the concept of ones digital footprint. at first i was worried about the idea of constantly being monitored and traced back to my every step. i still worry about this, however another thought that came to mind was that of the idea of leaving a mark, a memory, or something as close to our human fantasy of immortality.
the idea of living or remaining in some form has always been of intrigue to us as humans. living forever has been a dream to a lot of people. the idea of trying to harness a type of immortality has grown since our existence continued, our brains expanded, as well as our technologies, which in turn have given us more ideas and possibilities related to this topic. our first source at achieving a sense of immortality, would be as simple as the lifespan of a memory. the memories that last from human to human are those that for some reason or another have a big impact on ourselves. the more impact you leave on humans, the more of people’s memories you remain in.
one of the first examples of figures that attained a sense of immortality include gods, of christianity, ancient rome, ancient egypt…etc. this was done through the initial impact that these gods made on a person, and the continuation of storytelling and belief to other people; a train of impact so to speak. the understanding of their stories, impacts, and legacies if you will, brought the idea of doing something spectacular and memorable for a large scale of people in order to get fame. not only did this lead to other issues such as giving in to our naturally tendencies of being vain and selfish, but to the somewhat obsession of fame and celebrities.
the people that are remembered the most, almost to an extent of being immortal, are those that made true impacts on the world. this idea that doing things overtly in public is the one way we seek to get attention and the sense of immortality. the arise of digital media, and furthermore social media, changed this game. even though it was still about popularity, there becomes a sense of mystery and anonymity. for those less outspoken, we can speak without the outspoken presence. it gives everyday people a sense of importance without the mess and public eye that being a celebrity does.
what ultimately becomes the shivering aspect of digital tracking is that you are a celebrity but to people you never see, will never know, and wil never be aware of their intents. we know now more so of thr intents, but it’s a strange concept for me to grip my head around. we all desired and dreamt for popularity and celebrity life, and now we’re holding onto our desire for privacy like a child whose blanket is being torn from their hands by parent. it’s mine so why are you taking it!?
we’ve gone from this fear of silence at death to a scattering scrambling fear of not having peace to rest.
amuther. 