fuck yeah Synesthesia

99 senators haven’t come out against CISPA, and they’re rushing a vote for as soon as they come back from Memorial Day recess. Today is the last day before they leave. They need to know we’re not okay with this.

Our friends in D.C. are telling us that the Senate vote on S.2105, the Obama-backed bill that contains the CISPA language, is going to happen as soon as they get back from Memorial Day recess. CISPA, in case you’ve forgotten, is the bill that would nullify all existing privacy laws and give corporations legal immunity for sharing your communications with the government. It would effectively end privacy on the internet.

Today is our last chance to call and request meetings with our senators’ staffs before they go into recess mode. These 99 senators need more calls (took Wyden off the list because he is amazing). Can you call your senators and politely ask to meet with them or their staff about CISPA over the Memorial Day recess? Let us know how it goes in the comments.

• Mark Begich (AK) - (907) 271-5915
• Lisa Murkowski (AK) - (907) 456-0233
• Jeff Sessions (AL) - (205) 731-1500
• Richard Shelby (AL) - (205) 731-1384
• John Boozman (AR) - (501) 372-7153
• Mark Pryor (AR) - (501) 324-6336
• John McCain (AZ) – (602) 952-2410
• Jon Kyl (AZ) - (602) 840-1891
• Barbara Boxer (CA) - (510) 286-8537
• Dianne Feinstein (CA) - (415) 393-0707
• Michael Bennet (CO) - (303) 455-7600
• Mark Udall (CO) – (303) 650-7820
• Richard Blumenthal (CT) - (860) 258-6940
• Joe Lieberman (CT) – (860) 549-8463
• Chris Coons (DE) – (302) 573-6345
• Tom Carper (DE) (302) 573-6291
• Marco Rubio (FL) - (407) 254-2573
• Bill Nelson (FL) – (407) 872-7161
• Saxby Chambliss (GA) – (770)-763-9090
• Johnny Isakson (GA) - (770) 661-099
• Daniel Inouye (HI) - (808) 541-2542
• Daniel Akaka (HI) - (808) 522-8970
• Chuck Grassley (IA) (319) 363-6832
• Tom Harkin (IA) (319) 365-4504
• Mike Crapo (ID) - (208) 334-1776
• James Risch (ID) – (208) 342-7985
• Richard Durbin (IL) – (312) 353-4952
• Mark Kirk (IL) – (847) 940-0202
• Daniel Coats (IN) - (317) 554-0750
• Richard Lugar (IN) – (317) 226-5555
• Jerry Moran (KS) – (785) 628-6401
• Pat Roberts (KS) – (785) 295-2745
• Mitch McConnell (KY) – (270) 781-1673
• Rand Paul (KY) – (859) 426-0165
• Mary Landrieu (LA) – (225) 389-0395
• David Vitter (LA) – (318) 448-0169
• John Kerry (MA) - (617) 565-8519
• Scott Brown (MA) - (617) 565-3170
• Barbara Mikulski (MD) - (410) 962-4510
• Ben Cardin (MD) – (410) 962-4436
• Susan Collins (ME) - (207) 780-3575
• Olympia Snowe (ME) – (800) 432-1599
• Carl Levin (MI) - (313) 226-6020
• Debbie Stabenow (MI) - (616) 975-0052
• Al Franken (MN) - (651) 221-1016
• Amy Klobuchar (MN) - (1-888) 224-9043
• Claire McCaskill (MO) - (314) 918-8100
• Roy Blunt (MO) - (816) 471-7141
• Thad Cochran (MS) – (601) 965-4459
• Roger Wicker (MS) - (601) 965-4644
• Jon Tester (MT) - (406) 252-0550
• Max Baucus (MT) – (406) 449-5480
• Richard Burr (NC) - (800) 685-8916
• Kay Hagan (NC) – (704) 334-2448
• John Hoeven (ND) (701) 250-4618
• Kent Conrad (ND) - (701) 852-0703
• Mike Johanns (NE) (402)-758-8981
• Ben Nelson (NE) - (402) 391-3411
• Kelly Ayotte (NH) - (603) 622-7979
• Jeanne Shaheen (NH) - (603) 647-7500
• Frank Lautenberg (NJ) - (973) 639-8700
• Robert Menendez (NJ) - (973) 645-3030
• Jeff Bingaman (NM) - (505) 346-6601
• Tom Udall (NM) - (505) 988-6511
• Harry Reid (NV) - (702) 388-5020
• Dean Heller (NV) – (702) 388-6605
• Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) - (212) 688-6262
• Chuck Schumer (NY) – (212) 486-4430
• Rob Portman (OH) - (614) 469-6774
• Sherrod Brown (OH) - (614) 469-2083
• Tom Coburn (OK) - (405) 231-4941
• James Inhofe (OK) - (405) 608-4381
• Jeff Merkley (OR) - (503) 326-3386
• Pat Toomey (PA) - (610) 434-1444
• Robert Casey (PA) - (215) 405-9660
• Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) – (401) 453-5294
• Jack Reed (RI) (401) 528-5200
• Jim DeMint (SC) (843) 727-4525
• Lindsey Graham (SC) (864) 250-1417
• Tim Johnson (SD) (605) 332-8896
• John Thune (SD) - (605) 334-9596
• Lamar Alexander (TN) – (901) 544-4224
• Bob Corker (TN) - (202) 224-3344
• John Cornyn (TX) – (972) 239-1310
• Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) – (214) 361-3500
• Mike Lee (UT) - (801) 524-5933
• Orrin Hatch (UT) - (801) 524-4380
• Mark Warner (VA) - (804) 775-2314
• Jim Webb (VA) – (804) 771-2221
• Pat Leahy (VT) - (802) 863-2525
• Bernie Sanders (VT) - (802) 862-0697
• Maria Cantwell (WA) – (206) 220-6400
• Patty Murray (WA) - (206) 553-5545
• Ron Johnson (WI) - (414) 276-7282
• Herb Kohl (WI) – (414) 297-4451
• John Rockefeller (WV) – (304) 347-5372
• Joe Manchin (WV) – (304) 342-5855
• John Barrasso (WY) – (307) 261-6413
• Michael Enzi (WY) - (307) 772-2477

Goals in life

Create an Absurdist’s [Alcoholics] Anonymous

(Sex Addicts Anonymous for me (for porn), but what I create could be used by all “Anonymous” groups). Basically, being an absurdist contradicts what [A]A stands for. Some atheists can “use the group” as their higher power, but not an absurdist. Of course, the drawback is there are so few absurdist addicts out there that there won’t be enough people to start and sustain a meeting. Moreover, “the book” and the style of meetings would have to be completely redone — possibly an arduous task.

Create a social commune that does not use Internet.

I want to find/create a community that does not use Internet

I’ve ended my extended Internet abstinence about a month ago, but I’m still severely cutting back on my Internet use. Overall, it went well, but I think it could have gone a lot better if I was living in an entire community of people who didn’t use Internet (do you know of any?). Doing it on my own felt like living in Brave New World — I’m assuming you’ve read Huxley’s masterpiece. I really identified with the character who’s originally from the savage lands and starts living in the BNW world. He felt so overwhelmed by all the soma and the people addicted to the soma that killed himself at the end. Don’t worry, I’m not nearly that stressed out. But it’s still interesting to think about: mindless Internet games, videos, social media drama, tv are simply today’s soma. It’s effectively sedating our culture — I hate it.

Oh, and Google’s “Project Glass”

Those glasses that shove a computer in your face? That thing is the devil incarnate. People will just sit around watching cat videos all day. Brave New World much?!

That was metonymy: cat videos are just an example of the larger phenomenon. We’re just becoming more and more a sound-bite culture, obsessed with instant gratification, constant novelty, and high stimuli. We’re already so absorbed in our phones and computers, reading shit articles, daily news drama, watching thirty second YouTube videos just for entertainment. Even the “educational stuff” is pop facts with no rational argumentation or dialectic or sustained focus. It sucks us into our iPhones and not into each other… people are getting so addicted: mindless Internet games, videos, social media drama, tv are effectively sedating our culture — I hate it.

Nonetheless, here’s why I’m posting. I really, really want to find any communities, regions, or social communes that don’t use Internet. I’d like to find one — or create one if it doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I could go to a remote, mountainous region in the Himalayas, but I’d rather not butt in on a people’s culture like that. I’d rather not contribute to globalization. Instead, something somewhere in North-east USA? Actually, I’d be interested to know of any place regardless of geography.

I found this guy who lived on his own with no Internet in Cuba and decided to try to replicate it in the USA. I wish him luck. Here’s an excerpt of his blog. Oh, and here’s the Reddit post from which I found the blog post, which has quality critical comments (quality as in not like the unrestrained hatred one often finds on the Internet).

“I moved into a new apartment at the start of April, and decided to try an experiment: not having an internet connection.

When I tell people that I don’t have internet, they assume that it’s because I just moved in, and haven’t set it up.Nope, don’t want it.

Is it because I can’t afford it? Nope, don’t want it.

At this point, people become a little confused. Why would I not want an internet connection?

Anytime everyone believes the same thing without question, there’s a good chance it’s something that we as a society haven’t thought through. This can be a good idea for things that have stood the test of time. But if something is new, we can’t afford to accept or reject an idea without question.

The internet snuck up on us. It’s extremely useful, but we haven’t thought through how we should use it. It’s gotten steadily more enticing…there’s so much more you can do and read.

If you want, you can spend your whole day on the internet. And that’s a problem. I think it’s a bigger problem than most people are willing to admit: many people have become internet addicts.

I was one. Here’s my story.”

So, know of any accessible community that doesn’t use Internet?

Occupy Profile Pic December

Let’s start an Occupy Profile Picture December. Change your Facebook photo to an image reminiscent of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

And before you call me out on “slacktivism”, consider this:

It’s all about spreading awareness. The Susan G. Komen Foundation, for example, single handedly changed our culture from one that was secretive and reticent about “the C-word” to one that openly talks about and encourages learning and raising awareness about all kinds of cancer.
http://m.npr.org/story/140477589?url=/2011/09/14/140477589/susan-g-komen-founder-discusses-her-book

Let’s spread awareness about Occupy Wall Street. Explain to the nay-sayers what it’s really about:
• How senators and congressman, judges and even our presidents are won over by corporations. Politicians operate under a corporate-capitalist system under the guise of a capitalist system. If they vote the way that huge corporations want them to vote, those corporations will help fund their next run for office.
• And for those who think the corporate funding of congressman has always existed and will never change, think again. Our nation’s culture has went back and forth over the centuries and will probably continue to do so. We are simply at the cusp of a new progressive era.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/the-new-progressive-movement.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share
• We can no longer make a positive change simply by voting. We’re super saturated with corporation funded government propaganda. It drowns out those honest few politicians who truly respect the 99%. After the primaries, the only politicians left are those still funded by corporate giants.
• Then you say, “But I’m smart enough to know not to vote for the corporate funded politician.” OK, so maybe you are smart enough. But most people aren’t. Especially since we live in a society where compulsory education is a tool the government uses to condition, subordinate, and ultimately control us.
(Michael Wesch: Anti-Teaching: confronting the crisis of significance
http://www.scribd.com/mobile/documents/6358393/download?commit=Download+Now&secret_password=
Teacher who used Socratic method: was he denied tenure for asking too many questions? The sad state of education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/31/after-student-complaints-utah-professor-denied-job
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.” -Thomas Pynchon)

So join me. Occupy our Facebook profile photo with an image reminiscent of the Occupy Wall Street movement. We can use whatever image we want, or if something catches on virally, we’ll simply let it.

Getting rid of internet — again!

Living on the farm has been great. I had no computer, so my internet addiction couldn’t physically happen.

So I turned on my iPhone’s internet. It’s practical. It’s helpful. Could it be that bad?

Yes. I was sucked into it. Ugh. So I had a friend password restrict the Safari browser.

I had been tumbling on my iPhone, but it looks like that’s gonna stop too. I want to completely get rid of all my internet addiction cues, and being on an addictive site like tumblr is one of those cues.

Every once in a while, I may go to a library to update my tumblr via computer (like I’m doing now), but for now I’m going on a hiatus again. It may last for several months. May? June? I want my “internet brain” to go away and return to a “non internet” brain. I want my thoughts to stop racing. I want to stop thinking in short 140 character sound bites. I want to stop expecting the ability to close out of every window, so I can think more fully, continuously, without distracting. I want to be able to weed kale without having the desire to send the picture of a kale-fractal to tumblr.

I want to think. I want to stop my habit of thinking “just google it” and instead practice habitual critical thinking to solve problems. I’m sure google has the answers, but google is going to kill me in the long run.

So cya. And if you find away to think critically and use the internet simultaneously, let me know. Thoughts?

Internet no more :)

As you may have guessed, I went the whole summer without internet — while in school — and simply took off flying from there and never came back.

I found out someone made a “fyeahsynesthesia” since I stopped using my “fuckyeahsynesthesia”.

But — I don’t care. At all. With no internet, I started reading books. Lots and lots of books. It’s changed the way I think. I no longer think in short bursts of instant gratification but in long durations of complex thought, uninterrupted by the endless sea of distractions that is the internet.

I don’t ever want to come back. It’s nice out here. It’s too crowded online. I don’t like “socializing alone”, it’s so counterintuitive, mind numbing.

But.

I got an iPhone one month ago. Sure, I’ve stopped using a computer, so my internet addiction is physically impossible to manifest, but interestingly it doesn’t manifest on my iPhone. Even so, I rarely use internet on my iPhone. If I do, it’s only for practical purposes like finding the closest restaurant, etc. And I especially rarely ever use it when I’m around other people. It’s simply rude.

Everyone already knows it’s rude to text when you’re with people, but I find it rude to use a phone for any reason (besides emergencies, of course). Why? Because when you’re using your phone, no one knows what you’re doing with it. Sure, maybe you’re reading Kafka on the iBooks application, checking the latest NFL stats, etc, but those things are rude, too! Would you read a book at a party? Check the newspaper to see how your team is doing during dinner? No! Additionally, I find it rude even if you’re just looking up a word on the dictionary. Your attention is diverted from the conversation and you wouldn’t normally have a dictionary on hand. Ultimately, though, no one knows what you’re doing on the phone. The normal assumption is your texting. But then you respond, “Oh! I wasn’t texting I was just looking up the definition for that word you just used.” “Oh, OK, carry on.” Eww!!! I can’t believe people pardon this behavior. Why not try and keep the flow of the conversation? Learn to socialize and find meaning of words through body language and context, keeping your attention focused on your conversation partner. Be a true human and socialize!

Up at school I often climbed a water tower with a friend to star gaze (my school is in the middle of nowhere). Inevitably, we would have philosophical discussions and the like. But we agreed that we wouldn’t use our phones at all. I admit, I had urges a few times to look up something on Wikipedia or Dictionary.com, but all that would do is interrupt the beauty of the conversation between us.

Oh, yes. What I was originally going to say when I said “But I got an iPhone”: I may start using the tumblr application, and upload blogs, pics, ideas, etc on the go. I’ve already started a collection of photos on my iPhone that I would upload here. A good chunk of them are pictures of quotes from books I’ve read, like funny passages, witty sayings, cute fables, tall tales, fun stories, and etc. Sometimes I try to take a picture of the paragraph when it’s in a cool shadow.

But the question is, would this pulverize my new “internetless” brain? Starting to use tumblr again may initiate the “oh, I’ve got to post this!” desire, and ruin my real enjoyment of a setting sun, for example. It may seem like an obvious choice, to not get back online, but I see tumblr as a creative outlet. It’s a way to express my thoughts… Hey. Duh. I’ll just write in my journal in addition to reading. Real writing, with a pen and paper.

I guess this is goodbye?

— oh!

Update: after spending all summer at my college, I finally have completed my AA degree in Liberal Studies. I’m taking a year off as I’m kind of burnt out to “rekindle” my spirit, change, grow, and develop, and keep this “no internet” thing going, so I can fully get an “internetless brain” for when I return to college to get my BS degree (maybe in Physics but we’ll see).

During the year off I’m doing three core things:

1) In 36 hours, I’ll be leaving home to live on a Jewish organic farming community (not a kibbutz, but similar; in the states) through early November. (I need somewhere to live after this though. Give me ideas! Being an RA at a hospital for developmentally challenged people, Americorps, another farm… something!)

2) Group therapy program for young adults at my psychiatrist’s office. Kind of like a learning how to be an adult thing, but with a holistic vibe to it.

3) Porn/internet addiction specialist one-on-one and group sessions with other addicts.

Basically, by living in a new environment, I’ll be purposely giving myself culture shock to deconstruct and then reconstruct my identity, so that I can radically change my behavior and thoughts. If I had kept living at home all year, I would have stayed in the same environment that has been conditioning me for the past 21 years of my life. My parents would have kept expecting the same behavior from me and kept using the same language with me. And since language creates culture, I’m breaking free from home. I’ve realized that I’ve been depressed, anxious, restless, and generally stressed when I live at home. It wasn’t until I went away to college and experienced freedom in a stress free environment, and then came back home, that I realized home was really that bad. It’s not like my parents are evil or anything — they are caring, loving, nurturing parents. But for some reason, I just can’t take it. It’s annoying and irritating to have to live here even in the span of the few weeks I’ve been here waiting between college and the farm.

Thoughts?

Summer School with no Computer or Internet

As little as possible, anyway. Just giving a brief update on what’s been going on.

I’m a week into my second summer course and on track of things. I had given my computer back to my friend after borrowing it for the weekend in between the courses.

Teachers are admiring my decision, as well as the librarians here. People say their amazed at what I’m doing, astonished at my tenacity, and curious about how it’s going. To be honest, it’s hard to describe how it’s going — actually I haven’t gave it as much thought as I would like to, as I’m fairly busy with school work. But it’s been a huge breath of fresh air. I don’t feel the need to do trivial things like reading the latest psychology article, checking friend’s facebook pages, keeping up to date with the world. I can lay back and relax. I’m engaging in more timeless activities as opposed to timely. I’m reading books instead of online articles. Essentially, I’m reading things that apply to the present but aren’t applied from the present.

With all this free time I used to spend surfing the internet, I’m returning to the social life I used to have, retreating from my hermit cave, so to speak. I’m doing homework outside — I cannot do it in the library when it’s a beautiful day out. Living with no internet makes you realize the outside world is so beautiful — why read inside when you can sit under a tree in the grassy shade, listening to birds sing as a gentle breeze finds waves in the grass, creating a sea of bliss as dandelion pollen swarms like a school of fish in the ocean.

My friends are admirable of my decision, too, but they know more about the real reasons I’m doing this: I’m super addicted to the internet. However, for education in general, it’s a true experiment. How can I rid myself of the internet disease completely??? Everyone uses internet. Communication is practically dependent on it. We’re forced to use the internet. We become addicts because we have to.