Thursday, April 7, 2011

Fear and Loathing in Cyberspace

First and most importantly, listen to this


Now that we're on the same page emotionally...I'm scared.  Scared of all of this crap.  I've got a bunch of varied ideas for projects to create, as I mentioned, but I worry about them coming back to haunt me.  In the age of the Internet what gets posted lasts forever pretty much.  Most people feel a sense of liberation from the sense of pseudo-anonymity on Ye Oldde Tubes, but it's a false sense of security.  If someone wants to find out who you are and find out where you live and any of your personal info, well it's not going to be hard if they have the skills. 

It really worries me, I want to be able to speak my mind or be adventurous with comedy and maybe push the limits here and there.  I've been on stage doing improv before and have slipped into the "just act/speak" mode where there is almost no filter holding me back and have thankfully managed to not get myself in trouble.  I'm a big fan of blasphemy.  I think that sacred cows are meant to be slaughtered-on occasion.  Some of my personal heroes are people like Richard Dawkins, Matt and Trey from South Park, magicians Penn & Teller, PZ Meyers, and George Carlin.  All people who aren't afraid to say things that bring some color to the face.  I like to think of myself as a scientist, in the same way I think of myself as a philosopher.  Everyone on Earth is both those things to some extent, just how much they decide to examine the physical and metaphysical nature of the Universe varies. 

Of course freedom isn't free


...but I don't want to be the next Salman Rushdie or Giordanno Bruno.  Then again I doubt any of the (if I'm lucky) 20 or so people who visit this site a week care enough to come after me for my dumb jokes and poorly thought out essays.  However, my identity is forever linked to these words and they could come back to haunt me.  I don't think I'd ever run for public office so I'm not worried about that but any kind of comment that in the future might not be so polite could be a potential disaster for me.  Or what if my efforts pay off in the future and my "media empire" starts to get popular, more people start reading and BAM! I become the target of some internet vigilante campaign? 

Derp, you dun goofed.
Now, I freely admit that I often go to a worst case scenario.  In fact, if I were to name my strongest skill I would say it's the ability to instantly find flaws in any idea, plan, experimental design, or person- especially if said flaw/catastrophe is beyond the laws of probability in our ordered, natural universe.  Give me a topic and a few minutes and I'll give you a horrific and complicated breakdown of how it will explode and destroy all life on Earth.

But of course, all life is risky.  You could die any time and you need to not live in fear or you'll never really live at all.  Trying to stay true to that every day is pretty damn hard but I'm trying. 

In the end, all that matters is knowing this:

20 comments:

  1. Just go for it! One of my best friends tried her hand at doing stand up comedy a few months ago. She was scared to death before going up and pretty much had to be pushed out on stage but she ended up loving every minute of it. She was ecstatic that she tried it and didn't have to regret not doing it in the future.

    Life's too short not give it a shot & good luck!

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  2. be want you want to be and do what you want to do. there's no regret for what you've done, but the one that you haven't done

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  3. I've found that the humor, at least on my blog, suffers when I try to be PC. If I just go off the wall--people will respond.

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  4. No one's going to stab you because of a joke, man :D

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  5. I don't have any advice for you, but I completely get where you are coming from.

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  6. i feel you bro, just gotta find the right balance i guess. keep posting your blog seems cool, followed.

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  7. Follow your dreams! I also like to think of myself as a scientist! Feels good!

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  8. You only live once, so you got to reach the stars! Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way!

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  9. They say live life like you're going to die tomorrow, and maybe they're right. Like the nitefalls said, you only live once. Gotta make the most of it dude!
    Like your blog btw.

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  10. nice blog. like your jokes (;

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  11. Freedom costs a buck-o-five...

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  12. I like that first song you put up. We're definitely on the same page.

    As for everything you have written, we're definitely on the same page there as well....

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  13. yeah, I'm horrible at starting new creative projects myself. Once I do actually start something, it usually comes out great (or so I'm told) but it's just so damn hard starting off.

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  14. Projects take some time, but you'll get it!

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  15. You just gotta be sure of your path, I know that I'll just be doing things of a funny nature, so I don't care about the lines I cross, I do them mockingly and almost everyone knows that. The only thing is that sometimes its hard for people to realize when I'm being serious.

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  16. loved your post! nicely written and completely true

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  17. when i clicked your profile, you had 420 page views.

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  18. >You could die any time and you need to not live in fear or you'll never really live at all

    Indeed. Taking it easy helps in smoothing out life.

    It may be a bit hard, but really try taking it easy. A good start is listening to some nice songs. Gotta Knock a Little Harder is great for when you're in a bad mood.

    Herbal teas help calm you, but not many people are really into does. The fact that you've been able to go up on stage and just improvise is something I'd never really be able to do. Then again I don't think I'm a very funny person, I have an odd sense of humor.

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