Collaborative Pojects

'To have a whole life, one must have the possibility of publicly shaping and expressing private worlds, dreams, thoughts and desires and constantly having access to a dialogue between the public and private worlds. How else do we know that we have existed, felt, desired, hated, feared?' (Nafisi, 1999, p. 339)I cannot say that I agree with her 100%. First of all, expressing the private life in my standpoint is not the only way of proving that we exist. The existence is indeed its proof. You exist that is why you exist. You do not think and that is why you exist. You exist as much as a desk exists. I think Nafisi in this statement is overlapping two different things. She needs to express her feelings or private life or anything but that should not be perceived as a proof of existence. This is in my opinion the need for eternity, as Kundera in his novel "Immortality" said. We cannot runaway from this feeling that all of us human beings need to be immortal. Therefore, we demonstrate it in many different ways. Some become writers, some visual artists, some musicians andsome become scientists, and also many other professions, if I may say.

As an example, in my major, music education or even broader, music in general, I know a lot of people as "names" that publish their articles, books, auto biographies, CDs, ... yes, one of the reasons is that they are contributing to the music literature and helping to construct a better environment for musicers. But, is it the only reason? Clearly not. The have this urge to be known. I also do. They need other people to know about them by how they write, how they compose, how they create. It is not only the matter of accomplishment either. It gives a pleasant feeling, it's true but again the matter of identity comes in but this time with the combination of immortality.

The second reason that I do not agree with Nafisi is that I still do not see the need to expose my private life in order to have a life. However, in order to shape my personality and constantly change in a "better" way, quote'n'quote, I need the reflections of other people's opinions as well as reflections of my own thoughts. I am not talking about shaping my personality for the sake of people, but to think about the reflections. Sometimes, people's disagreement is the best way to know that we are right!

Now let's get back to the point that I was planning to go, blogging! I know, again. And I am sure that I come to this topic again and again. The thing is that I need time to shape my thoughts about this matter and that is why I come to this subject like a Sinus Diagram. Do I need eternity and that is why I blog? Do I need other people's comments on what I write? Do I need to be known by other people in order to be immortal? Can't I be anonymous and write, or compose? Yes, I can. But also this anonymity is some kind of immortality. People know me by not knowing me, but they still know my works, and sooner or later they will learn who I am as a person. By the way, I have to remind you that this "I" is totally metaphoric.

Nonetheless, here, we face another issue as Gilbert coined it in a way, Collaborative Inquiry and Collaborative Performance. This is the new platform, and as Gilbert says, Web 3.0. Everything can be shared, without even having a computer or buying any programs. People can share their creativities by the programs that these platforms offer, without even paying for anything. This is what we might call the public privacy. This is what I still scare, I am not comfortable by sharing my intimate and private moments with the public. Maybe I am from the older generation. Maybe privacy is still the most important thing that I can have, and sharing it with others will ruin it for me. the new generation as Gilbert says are comfortable with this issue. They do not mind sharing their intimate moments with others. They have face book, and they put their photos, and information on it but at the same time, there are some programs that we can have the access of it in this new platform. Sharing, interacting and collaborating the ideas, explorations, creations and most importantly collaborations.

Yes, internet is the new medium. This old and new phenomenon of commenting, which TV is also sort of imitating it as Gilbert said, is one of the most important issues on the domain of internet. Commenting can be another definition for reflection. By this act we can create more creatively, we are actually collaborating by using and absorbing new knowledge that other people might have and add and edit these ideas into shaping our own thoughts and imaginations. To sum up briefly, collaborative platform, collaborative musicing, collaborative projects are indeed according to Gilbert the new stage of this globalized era. However, the matter is how to define it and how to implement it in every aspect of our lives. And for the older generation like myself which privacy is more important than anything else, how can I adapt myself to this new new new world?