Memory and Self

TODAY's blog question: 'How does the transformation of human memory to commodity affect our definition of "Human" (as this definition, you will recall, is receding as technology advances)?'

After Thursday's class I really liked the concept of talking about how the individual self consists of many masks or multiple identities depending on the environment in which the person is in. I found that this is an important aspect of what makes us humans and individuals because we can adapt socially to certain situations. I remember how we talked about how the typical person has a flux of playing with these multiple masks and make dramatic processes.

Since people have veered from that hunter-gatherer tribal group mentality and are now individuals, people seem to always be searching for the self. Even I feel like I have many identities from how I act around my friends, family members, or strangers, etc. With technology, I feel like the concept of the self or selves that individuals share affect how we remember and relate to things. With how I act around my friends - sometimes I'll remember moments more of when we are in school and are doing school related things. With my family sometimes I have more memories of spending time in their houses and doing activities that relate to family gatherings.

With technology, I feel like with the MUDS, this affect how people remember things as well. Many individuals create a mask and certain persona and amplify or modify it in order to be someone else. When they are consumed into the game, they perceive themselves and other characters different and since they are interacting in a different way, they have different memories. They may remember saving a guild and marrying their characters with this virtual mask over the other interactions they have in real life.

From McLuhan's article, I got a sense that he explained that the typographic technological changes that occurred caused a huge change in how many Westerners think. He often referred to Gutenberg technology or the rise of the printing press as a major turning point for many mentalities of people. He wanted to use that shift in mentality and technological innovations to explain how new or electric media is affecting people today. He also seems interested in how oral literature is involved with this shift in how language has been affected by typographical changes in technology.