Categories: uncategorized
Date: 04 May 2004 11:07:26
Toothing. Right, I'd better explain. Apparently, with Wi-Fi / Bluetooth equipped mobiles you can send text messages to anyone with approx 300ft / 100m, or so. And you don't need to know the other persons number either. However, everyone with a Wi-Fi phone within 100m will be able to get the message. With me so far? It seems that so far this has been used in clubs / bars / trains / airports / hotels / restaurants / boring marketing strategy meetings / supermarkets / malls (etc, etc, you get the idea, any place where there's lots of people basically) as a way of organising casual sexual liaisons. This is called 'Toothing'. Regardless of what you think morally / ethically about this the fact is that these possibilities have only become available to us within the last 2 or 3 years. Before that it was impossible, the tech wasn't there. I guess what I'm getting at is that technology changes the way many (and an increasing 'many') meet, socialise and engage sexually with others. And as we are relational beings, technology changes the way we are as people. It's not the case anymore that technology is *part* of the environment we live in, it *is* the environment we live in. The self is (at least in large part) technologically directed and constructed. There's a paradox here though. Whereas technology can help us meet real people (i.e. non-virtual - example: 'Toothing' as a meeting of bodies) it can also isolate and increasingly individualise us. It's now 10:55am and I'm blogging and (hopefully!) communicating with (1 or 2?) other people, yet I haven't seen another human being yet today (and I've been up since 8:30am!). I'm not sure exactly how all this connects and links with the question of how we are to do spirituality within this techno-scape in which we live, breathe, move and have our being, but it seems important. Suggestions, comments, conversation, dialogue and free meals welcome.