old dude rant or . . .

Be Where You Is

"Be what you is, cuz if you be what you ain't, then you ain't what you is."

. . . or something like that.

( http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_'Be_who_you_is_-_if_you_is_who_you_ain't_you_ain't_who_you_is' )

I think that’s how it goes, and there seems to be some debate as to whom that quote is attributed to, but it’s one of my favorites.  However, I would like to propose a new version.

Be where you is, cuz if you be where you aint, then you aint where you is.

I think this new version is more poignant in today’s mobile device world.  I don’t know how many times I’ve been walking through a crowded area and had to dodge people like the ones seen below. 

It’s no wonder that the occasional tragedy happens.  Call it natural selection? 

( http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Pedestrian-Struck-Killed-in-Otay-Mesa-242678631.html )

I know that’s easy to say and it sounds cold, but only as cold as plastic, metal and circuitry.  The mobile connections that we have are now half of who we are.  Does that make us cyborgs?  Someone who does not have all the knowledge of mankind at their fingertips is subhuman in today’s society.  One day individual experience will be a thing of the past.

I wonder what kind of emotional effect it’s having on us.  We won’t know until it’s too late.  Obviously there are negative aspects to not being 100% present in the real world.  For now, at least, I think staying alive is pretty important stuff.

Flesh is weak.  Our bodies die but our virtual presence can live on.

( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/facebook-death/ )  In class, we recently learned about a Facebook service that enables things to be posted posthumously.  Eventually will our consciousness live on electronically?