Digital Footprints (Beware! Probably College-level thinking)

[Gek]

I'd like to start a topic, and see the world answer.
I want to see the freewheeling words, the high and low minded,
Disparate in intellect but alike to communicate.

Inference, reference, and ranting: alike as a cancer,
Unrestricted, unedited, unfolding...
Those praises and slanders and wild debates,

From whisperers to the world that the world whispers of,
and searchers with dog's hearing, engine driven,
to find in this flat world the connected divide.

All are the same, white noise lies and truth and hate and love,
Bent by masses, all insignificant, all great;
The awkward frame, a mind to others chained, upon distant choices resides,

And perhaps survives this age of interruption in a quiet place;
A silent warrior of words, to self accounted, by understanding redeemed,
Balanced upon a public sphere: The staccato of dancing fingers, digital footprints on a flat Earth.

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I just thought this little poem would be interesting to post, considering human communication practices in this era. Anyone want to guess at the topic? Provide personal insight? Troll? Do it all!

 

[ianuam]

Are we talking about our impressions? Well it seems to me a post-modern lament of the freedom of information, at once revelling and drowning in the new wealth of data. Quite familiar at it's core, really, written by a person on the cusp of two worlds, the old and new, struggling to adapt.

 

[implodingMan]

My college-level thinking has more to do with neurological disorders and European history, so I am sort of at a loss here.

By the way, I'm going to assume that you wrote it, although you didn't specifically say so. If so, then nicely done. It reads fairly well and the subject (while not entirely original) is presented nicely.

 

[InifniteWit]

Just my opinion but whatever.
I think that writing a ridiculous amount of bull without actually saying anything to the point is well ridiculous. If you want to get a point across don't try to write poetry that uses way too many metaphors and attempts to at the same time divide up by intelligence while speaking of equality in the same breath is a waste. Just write out what you want to say, don't pretty it up, don't put a sugar coat on it. Also labeling it 'College level thinking' just makes you come across as an elitist who thinks he's smarter than the rest of us because he knows big words.

Seriously? Dividing things as either high or low minded? And of course this poem is 'high-minded', because you couldn't possibly write anything 'low-minded' could you?

 

[Gek]

My college-level thinking has more to do with neurological disorders and European history, so I am sort of at a loss here.

By the way, I'm going to assume that you wrote it, although you didn't specifically say so. If so, then nicely done. It reads fairly well and the subject (while not entirely original) is presented nicely.

Nothing is original.
But consider the neurosis of the rumor: One knows what others say without being able to stop it. Now, make rumors immortal and always accessible, does the distress fade? How does one fight against a dozen lies? Is the truth any different to the people that listen to the rumors about you? Does a million lies make you the better source?

Today we are all our own newscasters, our own paparazzi. We sustain ourselves socially by being connected, yet the devices that drive our connections also drive us apart by allowing us to select who we listen to, and to destroy each other with lies that reach thousands in a moment. Do your neighbors exist in that physical box next to your house, or are they ever present in the computer that sends your messages around the world in a second, the cell phone in your pocket, and the constant awareness that at any moment you might become the subject of their thoughts and words? It is madness to think that at any moment, you are everywhere being watched and must watch others, but we give ourselves to such a world without restriction,accountability, or a clear morality to guide.

These impressions are what I gather, as to the author, I can but smile and say the world wrote it, as we stand eye-to-eye.

 

[Gek]

Seriously? Dividing things as either high or low minded? And of course this poem is 'high-minded', because you couldn't possibly write anything 'low-minded' could you?

My interpretation is that the poem puts both on the same level.

 

[Gek]

Is it a plot synopsis of Halo 3?

Probably Halo 4: Start a New Fight

or

Halo 5: Master Chief Adventures With Friends in Dreamland

 

[falcontwin]

It's more high school Emo unoriginal 14 year old thinking rather than college thinking. It's kinda deep if your really shallow.

D- Must try harder.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Was this inspired by my own recently-created thread of a similar topic? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.74802.847061]

Shameless self-promotion FTW.