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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 11:24:44 -0700
Sender: •••@••.••• (Joe Ferguson)
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: From Cyber to Physical Space
Dear Cyberjournal Community,
I met Richard Moore in the flesh, this past Sunday. There was a
casual "pot luck" dinner party at a friend's house in Palo Alto.
I brought an apple pie and helped grill a small mountain of chicken
Richard had marinated with some wonderful concoction of mundane
materials. I met some nice people, got a chance to kid around a
little with Richard, and enjoyed seeing slides of Wexford and hearing
him tell his good friends about life in his newly adopted country.
On the way driving home to Santa Cruz that evening, I reflected on
the contrasts between cyber space and the real world. The difference
between the theoretical and the empirical; between thought and deed;
the difference between what goes on inside our heads and what goes on
outside; these comparisons come to mind.
My first impression was "Real is better" but this party would not have
been the same without the connection Richard and I have established
through the immediate-correspondence-pen-pal world of cyberspace. The
party was very low key, and I didn't get much time with Richard, but
that was OK because our cyberjournal relationship was there. This was
just an opportunity to share physical space; to become acquainted with
each other's presence. It's hard to express, and maybe Richard will
confirm or deny that it's all in my head, but I felt like one of his
old friends, and in that, I felt connected to this group of strangers.
This was the first time I had converted a cyber-relationship to a
"real-world" friendship. Coincidentally, I heard on the CBS radio
news yesterday morning, that a teenaged girl who had been sent a
ticket to California by a man she met through the internet is missing.
There was a related piece about a boy who, had been missing after a
similar cyber-to-physical transition, but had now been reunited with
his family. Gee, I wonder if the focus on these stories has any
connection to the current congressional attacks on the internet? I
wonder just exactly how many teenagers are unaccounted for at this
moment in this country? Anyway, I hope the girl is safe and will turn
up in due time. I can't see that this encounter is much different
from any other encounter with someone you don't know well (any of
which might be in poor judgement). My point is that the meeting with
Richard and his friends, being based on a reasonably firm foundation,
given the duration and extent of our cyber correspondence, held no
surprises, except the pleasant surprise of connecting with a whole
new circle of pleasant, intelligent individuals.
I guess it prompts the defiant in me, in the face of this "new threat
to society that the conversion of cyber relationships to real-world
personal relationships poses" to urge all of you to "Meet, in the
flesh, the cyber-buddy of your choice, SOON!"
You'll be glad you did!
- Joe
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Posted by -- Richard K. Moore -- •••@••.••• -- Wexford, Ireland.
Moderator: CYBERJOURNAL (@CPSR.ORG)
World Wide Web:
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~hwh6k/public/cyber-rights.html
http://jasper.ora.com/andyo/cyber-rights/cyber-rights.html
FTP:
ftp://jasper.ora.com/pub/andyo/cyber-rights
You are encouraged to forward and cross-post messages and online
materials, for non-commercial use, pursuant to any contained copyright &
redistribution restrictions. For commercial re-use, contact the author.
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