Tangent: Lifelogging
So, earlier this week I wrote about my struggles with the photographing of strangers and friends in public and without permission. Then Anna sent me this:
The first day I came home with a digital audio recorder hanging around my neck, along with a sign that said "Warning: This conversation may be recorded," my wife shook her head in a way that conveyed deep embarrassment. Then she said: "Have you ever heard of Nixon?"
On the train to work, my fellow commuters did double takes and snickered. People sat down next to me, then got up and moved to another seat. One woman saw my sign and hushed her friends: "Look, he's recording." Another fellow told me that someone was going to beat me up over my little stunt. Once a conductor gave me such a severe look that I thought he would throw me off the train at the next stop.
In the grocery store, clerks asked me if I was doing some kind of crazy university study. Sort of, I replied. "You're recording your life all the time?" people said. "Why would anyone want to do that?"
On The Record, All The Time by Scot Carlson, The Chronicle (subscription required), 02.09.07
Hmmm. Talk about going in the complete opposite direction. What if everyone was recording everything all the time?
Comments
now that modern technology has allowed for high fidelity recordings of audio, pictures, and video, people don't have to use their noggins as much. Forms of entertainment have become removed from communal being-with-people times to isolated watching recorded experiences. one example that springs to mind is movie watching.
when you go out to a movie, sure, you share the experience of the movie, and afterwards you may share with your friend your individual reflection on that movie based on your personal belief and experiences, and thus you and your friend may grow.
but really, how many people actually take the time to analyze deeper meanings of movies, much less relate them to their own lives in a deep and self-analytical matter? If Socrates were still around today, he'd probably go ballistic what with all the modern lives today lived without examination. but that's another point.
Having one's actions or words recorded is thought of today as either being something to fondly remember, or something to be used against them in a court of law. The former is generally implied and accepted during joyous times -- kids' birthday parties, nights out at the bars, trips to Jamaica. During such joyous times, people prepare what I think of as their "fun-faces," they suppress and/or forget all of their troubles and issues and devote themselves to merriment. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this, time away from problems is absolutely necessary to retain proper perspective on them.
Recording images and conversations not associated with fun is generally thought of as for use against them in a court of law. People generally feel that when they're being recorded casually or informally, that their freedom is stifled. And people like their freedom. People like being able to pick their nose, not leave a tip, and say whatever they feel, without becoming social outcasts, or imprisoned for a slip of the tongue. What gets me though, is that reality tv in which people make fools of themselves and/or are emotionally devastated. So apparently, it's okay to watch other peoples' personal devastation, but god forbid it should happen to those millions of viewers.
My proposed solution isn't very likely. I believe that if people were to spend some brain power mulling over their lives, society, and how they fit and function in society, that the stigma of being recorded will lift. Events, recorded or not, don't happen in vacuums, they happen in the context of other events, inextricable from the fabric of causes and effects that spawns them, and gets spawned by them. Records of any sort can only give a narrow perspective of an event. People have a huge capacity to both observe and process events, as evidenced by the proliferation and longevity of cultures that preserve the history of their entire culture entirely through oral communication. I think that this is amazing, and I think that with work, everyone can achieve all of the benefits of such a perception of themselves and their society.
If everyone was to have a bigger perception of society and human nature, they wouldn't worry so much that the stray word or drunken action might be taken out of context and used to prosecute them.
This is obviously a sweeping generalization, and the solution offered is a dubious hippie-rambling at best without a mountain of evidence. But I've taken up enough space as it is.
Thank you for sparking some thought in a brain that's been running dry for the past few weeks.
Dayv, some interesting thoughts indeed, you made a good point with the distinction between recording for fun and at other times. People are not so anxious about the recording itself but where and how it might be used. If it`s not going to protray them in the best light then it is less likely to be permissible. This has been happening since the renaissance when leaders and artists would have works comissioned, always making sure that the artists chose the best angles. These days this paradigm has been turned on its head, and the cult of celebrity has a lot to do with it. Now the subjects (or should I say objects of our adoration) get payed for for their appearances.
I have very few qualms about being recorded, but it needs to be consensual, and I`m not about to let me arse hang out. Who would have thought blogging would be such a pervasive medium even five years ago. It is still young and has many weaknesses, but it`s strength is that it is constantly reconstituting and replaying "everything". That becomes more meaningful for individuals the more effort they put into cultivating community can be seen right here.
I certainly want to be part of a world that casts a light on every corner on the human experience so that we can become better through knowing ourselves.