Categoria: Mind

Virtual worlds and Maya 2.0

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The creation of virtual worlds has an immediate fascination over human beings. Second Life. World of Warcraft and other environments are amongst Internet developing tendencies.

The great appeal of these worlds is augmented by the fact that the mind itself is a powerful creator of artificial worlds and it complies with an intrinsic need within the mind.

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La creazione di mondi virtuali ha un fascino immediato sugli esseri umani. Second Life, World of Warcraft e altri ambienti sono tra le tendenze in sviluppo di Internet.

Il grande fascino di questi ambienti è aiutato dal fatto che la mente stessa è una creatrice di mondi artificiali, quindi non fa che assecondare un bisogno instrinseco nella mente.

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Computer addiction as survival for the ego

Our nervous system has the mechanism of a reward system that, when activated, can trigger the processes of compulsions and addictions. In the Internet, people can get addicted to online gambling, to online gaming, to porn, to cybersex, to online auctions, to chat, even to news and to surfing. Neuroscientists have also documented how the learning and the pleasure centers of the brain are the same.
My hypothesis is that addictions that have to do with the mind activity, such as computer addiction, are there in order to keep the mind busy and therefore surviving. A silent mind would mean no-mind; silence and stillness are the worse enemy for the ego, that breeds thoughts continuously and feeds on them.

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Our nervous system has the mechanism of a reward system that, when activated, can trigger the processes of compulsions and addictions. In the Internet, people can get addicted to online gambling, to online gaming, to porn, to cybersex, to online auctions, to chat, even to news and to surfing. Neuroscientists have also documented how the learning and the pleasure centers of the brain are the same.

My hypothesis is that addictions that have to do with the mind activity, such as computer addiction, are there in order to keep the mind busy and therefore surviving. A silent mind would mean no-mind; silence and stillness are the worse enemy for the ego, that breeds thoughts continuously and feeds on them.

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Il nostro sistema nervoso possiede un meccanismo di gratificazione che, una volta attivato, può provocare processi compulsivi e di dipendenza. Su Internet, le persone possono diventare dipendenti dal gioco d’azzardo o i videogame online, la pornografia, il cybersex, le aste online, le chat, persino le news e il navigare in sé. I neuroscienziati hanno documentato anche come i centri cerebrali dell’apprendimento e del piacere siano gli stessi.

La mia ipotesi che è le dipendenze connesse all’attività mentale, come la dipendenza da computer, seguono un meccanismo simile per tenere la mente occupata, e quindi farla sopravvivere. Una mente silenziosa significherebbe una non-mente; il silenzio e l’immobilità sono i peggiori nemici dell’ego, che genera e si nutre continuamente di pensieri.

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Programming and self de-programming

Software programming is a meta-activity. It deals with becoming aware of a process in its details, even though it is limited to the area regarding the information flow. Recursive algorithms are a good metaphor for self-reflection.

Once reached a certain level in programming, it is almost inevitable that our attention cannot just focus on the understanding of the computer working mechanisms, but also to the inside of our own mind, investigating the way of thinking itself which allows us to deduce, discriminate, program, and associate things and events.

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Software programming is a meta-activity. It deals with becoming aware of a process in its details, even though it is limited to the area regarding the information flow. Recursive algorithms are a good metaphor for self-reflection.

Once reached a certain level in programming, it is almost inevitable that our attention cannot just focus on the understanding of the computer working mechanisms, but also to the inside of our own mind, investigating the way of thinking itself which allows us to deduce, discriminate, program, and associate things and events.
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La programmazione software è una meta-attività. Si tratta di prendere consapevolezza di un processo nei suoi particolari, seppur limitato al piano inerente il flusso informativo. Gli algoritmi ricorsivi sono una buona metafora per l’autoriflessione.

Arrivati ad un certo livello nella programmazione, è quasi inevitabile che l’attenzione non si rivolga più solamente alla comprensione dei meccanismi di funzionamento del computer, ma anche all’interno della propria mente, indagando le modalità del pensiero stesso che consentono di inferire, discriminare, programmare e associare cose ed eventi.

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Metabolizing information

The speed of e-contacts and communication prevents the full assimilation of the messages we receive. Split and fragmentary attention has become the rule for online activities, but this procedure is gradually being exported offline. But the time needed for soul maturity goes much slower than electronics.

When we are not present with our aware attention, we are only passive containers of every message we receive. In this way, we are at risk of becoming simple consumers of messages which play on a banal emotional immediacy bypassing any kind of critical analysis.

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The speed of e-contacts and communication prevents the full assimilation of the messages we receive. Split and fragmentary attention has become the rule for online activities, but this procedure is gradually being exported offline. But the time needed for soul maturity goes much slower than electronics.

When we are not present with our aware attention, we are only passive containers of every message we receive. In this way, we are at risk of becoming simple consumers of messages which play on a banal emotional immediacy bypassing any kind of critical analysis.

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La velocità dei contatti e delle comunicazioni elettroniche impedisce la capacità di metabolizzazione dei messaggi che si ricevono. L’attenzione divisa e frammentaria è diventata la regola nelle attività online, ma questa modalità tende ad essere anche esportata offline. I tempi della maturazione dell’anima e della consapevolezza sono però assai più lenti di quelli elettronici.

Quando non siamo presenti con la nostra attenzione consapevole, siamo semplici contenitori passivi di qualsiasi messaggio che riceviamo. In questo modo rischiamo di diventare consumatori di messaggi che fanno leva su una banale immediatezza emotiva bypassando qualsiasi analisi critica.

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Mechanisms, mysticism and Amazon Mechanical Turk

Human beings have always felt the need to give themselves to something bigger than their individualities: to art, to love, to a cause, to truth, to a guru, to God. When we devote ourselves to something bigger, we transcend ourselves, we go beyond our little narcissistic ego who would always like to be the center of attention. Dedication annihilates a part of ourselves and at the same time it lifts us up to another state of being.
We give ourselves, we trust and we nullify ourselves into technology. We are religiously devoted to the objects of technology, which absorb most of the time of an increasing number of people. As McLuhan wrote, “By continuously embracing technologies, we relate ourselves to them as servomechanisms.”

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Human beings have always felt the need to give themselves to something bigger than their individualities: to art, to love, to a cause, to truth, to a guru, to God. When we devote ourselves to something bigger, we transcend ourselves, we go beyond our little narcissistic ego who would always like to be the center of attention. Dedication annihilates a part of ourselves and at the same time it lifts us up to another state of being.

We give ourselves, we trust and we nullify ourselves into technology. We are religiously devoted to the objects of technology, which absorb most of the time of an increasing number of people. As McLuhan wrote, “By continuously embracing technologies, we relate ourselves to them as servomechanisms.”

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Gli essere umani hanno sempre sentito il bisogno di darsi a qualcosa di più grande della propria individualità: all'arte, a un amore, ad una causa, alla verità, a un guru, a Dio. Quando ci dedichiamo a qualcosa di più grande trascendiamo noi stessi, oltrepassiamo il nostro piccolo ego narcisista che vorrebbe sempre stare al centro delle attenzioni. La dedizione ci annienta da una parte e allo stesso tempo ci eleva da un'altra.

Ci diamo, ci affidiamo e ci annulliamo nella tecnologia. Siamo religiosamente devoti agli oggetti della tecnologia, che assorbe la maggior parte del tempo di un numero crescente di persone. Come scrisse McLuhan, “Ricevendo continuamente tecnologie ci poniamo nei loro confronti come altrettanti servomeccanismi.”

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Ideologies that strengthen themselves

The attachments to theories, points of view and dogmas are used to satisfy our need of certainty and to escape confrontation with the void. Often I ask myself how ideologies and dogmas can stand the test of time even though they are so often full of holes. I noticed that among the various mechanisms commonly used, ideologies tend to implement auto-referential processes to defend themselves from criticisms, whereas the criticisms themselves strengthen the ideologies. Strengthen today, strengthen tomorrow, and the day after that fundamentalisms are born.

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The attachments to theories, points of view and dogmas are used to satisfy our need of certainty and to escape confrontation with the void. Often I ask myself how ideologies and dogmas can stand the test of time even though they are so often full of holes.

I noticed that among the various mechanisms commonly used, ideologies tend to implement auto-referential processes to defend themselves from criticisms, whereas the criticisms themselves strengthen the ideologies.

Strengthen today, strengthen tomorrow, and the day after that fundamentalisms are born.

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Gli attaccamenti a teorie, punti di vista e dogmi vengono usati per soddisfare il nostro bisogno di certezza e per non sentire il vuoto. Mi sono chiesto spesso come facciano le ideologie e i dogmi a resistere nel tempo nonostante spesso facciano buchi da tutte la parti.

Ho notato che tra i vari meccanismi utilizzati, le ideologie tendono ad implementare dei processi autoreferenziali per difendersi dalle critiche, dove le critiche stesse rafforzano l'ideologia.

Rafforza oggi rafforza domani, si creano i fondamentalismi.

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