Couple of days ago we were discussing a very important subject in Dr. Elliott's class, the brain space. It is actually the territory each human being needs around him/her with the radius of his/her hand. As soon as this territory gets attacked or disturbed that person becomes anxious and uncomfortable. However, in different cultures this territory differs. For example, in my own country people communicate with their bodies as well as the oral communication. That said, they hold hands, they speak to your face, they kiss each other so many times, etc. sometimes they even don't understand what it means actually. Nonetheless, holding hands and kissing on the cheeks of tow people with the same gender in Iran is normal and it should not be misunderstood as being gay.
I was born in a family that this territory/privacy was really important and respected. SO, it was really irritating for me if some students at my high school while speaking to me were holding my hands or whenever they wanted to call my name they would touch my shoulder. After a while, I realized this is a common thing around where I was living so, I just got along with it. Isn't it so that we should also respect different cultures? More importantly, it was my home town culture. The one that I used to grow up in. Wow! I'm using this huge word of culture and I even don't realize what a heavy weight it carries.
Anyhow! Enough about territory. What I really like to talk about with this intro is the matter of identity. When I created my first blog I was really embarrassed and unwilling to do so. I did it because my sister had one and needed my comments on what she was saying, so because of that I had to open up one. It took me, I think, two years to start writing in it as I'm not a big fan of cyber space. Moreover, I never had written for anyone else except myself. So, opening up yourself in front of other people was an extremely hard task for me. It is still a weird feeling while I'm writing or in a way blogging because it's like I'm naked in front of people.
All of my friends, ALL OF THEM, have facebook. Dr. Elliott was saying that also these names has something to say. Myspace, facebook, face to face,... they all carry a heavy meaning. Which is true. It is the way you introduce yourself to people. That is why I have none of them. It is hard for me to talk about myself. That's why I think it is really good to have some engineers as web designers to do your job, that you are not obliged to talk about yourself on and on.
Sometimes I think why people put their pictures, or their favorite music, favorite books, movies... on the web for people to see. And I realized this is exactly the territory Dr. Elliott was talking about. You need people to know you by what you like and dislike, by your appearance, by your favorite music. Once I started to put my favorite blabla on "my" (we should consider this my thingy) blog, I started to realize what a massive concept is behind it. At the same time I liked it and disliked it. It was like prostitution (the whole concept of it) in the beginning. I thought I was losing my privacy with my own hands. Why do I need people to know what I really think, in terms of private thoughts and not the academic standpoint, or what I really look like or what I like to listen to? To be honest I still don't know, I just do it because of the experience.
The facebook, sometimes people say its because of its convenience that you don't have to call people and talk to them, you just put the info there and they will see. I strongly think that they also need to out their photos out there and it is not only because of its convenience, and moreover, is is the kind of communication that is needed? I need flesh and blood to say that I'm communicating. I need to see people face to face, to talk and chat. The internet is not enough for me to communicate. In terms of communication, I need internet to communicate because I don't have the access to the people that I care about geographically, that's it.
Now, lets go back to the identity discussion. Imagine the Ipods that people carry around, it is their identity, they are being defined by what they listen to. No matter how much we say that we have to respect different kinds of people and different styles of music, still we judge people by what they listen to, or at least I do. I know that it's not alright to do that but I have not conquered this flaw in myself. Furthermore, we read certain books, or we don't read at all, we have some certain thoughts and we have different lifestyles, all these are affecting the concept of what we feel about ourselves, what other people think about us and even what we are not and we just want to be.
Thus, identity in my standpoint, is directly related to territory that how we define our territory. I still need to contemplate more and I will definitely discuss it more. To be honest, I don't know with whom! is it me or is someone reading what I blabber? Why do I even bother to write it down? Is it because Dr. Gilbert wanted it from us or is it because I need people to see my territory/ownership and I need them to see who I am from my own standpoint? That is the point!
