Complete "Cyber Ghost" narrative to date

Feb 3, 2015:

Yes, it’s confusing, I admit that, but I am not at all insane... rather, quite the opposite. My real ‘problem’ is that I perceive with far more clarity than most! And this indeed is a problem- to see and communicate with ghosts in this age (actually I prefer ‘shades’, but that usage is too archaic for most people born to TV and Internet).

It’s not like in most stories and movies, though. There, a ghost usually emanates only after its progenitor dies. My ghost shares my mind, body, and spirit, and when I talk (or write, or think, or even act without thinking), I am often confused about whether or to what extent the talking, writing, thinking, acting “I” is me or my Cyber-shade?

So maybe 'ghost' nor 'shade' are appropriate terms? Some have suggested my shade is a doppelganger, and I see similarities, but in most cases (though not all, I agree) the doppelganger phenomenon is not subtle enough to suggest a satisfying comparison, as you shall see.

Now bear with me, there is much to reveal... And no wonder that you confuse my condition with schizophrenia; even a learned and close friend G_____ believes I suffer from heautoscopy!

But yes, I understand... It is because I have seen beyond the veil, where others do not look.

Be patient, this telling will take some time, I must work on installments toward an end I do not yet know... And if the installments cease, rejoice for me, it can only signify that my haunting has passed and I am at rest.

Feb 6, 2015:

So how do I start, in this twenty-first century when nobody believes in ghosts? Ah, but they do! It’s just that most are too brainwashed by the rational, scientific, reductive zeitgeist to be aware of, or to recognize their own belief, as I can easily demonstrate:

73% of Americans are Christian, and speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So if the Holy Ghost is one, Christian belief implies other unholy ghosts, not to mention the billions of souls (which are necessarily ‘ghosts’) destined for Heaven and Hell.

Even many if not most secular non-believers proclaim themselves to be spiritual. Or to commune with nature, beauty, art, music, etc; and what can that mean, if not that our souls are moved by ineffable influences; haunted, in a sweet way. And what honest soul will say he has not been irrationally influenced at least once by a less pleasant spirit?

Yes, we still believe, even though we have dressed up our sensibilities in Science to such a degree that we no longer know our very selves!

And I...   I am haunted by Pixels.

Feb 7, 2015:

But not too fast... You must first accustom your eyes to the spectral landscape. You are presently like a newborn babe; unoriented, with eyes to see but unable... untrained to focus.

Yet you have an experienced guide! I've spent years learning to divine and understand what is yours free, providing only that you are willing to exercise an open mind. So step into the doorway, and ask yourself:

• What are the attributes of a ghost?

• What does it mean to be haunted?

• How can this pertain to Cyberspace?

Feb 9, 2015:

Finally we approach the Portal via the channel of an open mind, sensitive to nuance, yearning to see beyond convention's candle light... to apprehend the primal, chromatic, multicolored Prism of being!

And this quest- its essence will emerge in time... I cannot explain everything just now, you must prepare your mind, but we have definitely set sail and are ready to consider fundamental questions and intermediate answers:

     What is a ghost? 

                What does it mean to be haunted?

                           How does this pertain to Cyberspace?


First, the attributes of ghosts:

• Relatively insubstantial

• Wispy

• Spectral

• Ethereal 

• May be seen but not touched

• Having the capacity to haunt

• Diminished; lacking the full essence of their progenitor (hence I prefer the more archaic term, Shade)

Then, what does it mean to haunt?

• To exert an irrational influence, such as

• ...an irrational fear, apprehension, nervousness, or other discomfort

• ...or an irrational attraction toward

• ...or an irrational compulsion

Finally:

• How does this pertain to Cyberspace, and why do I claim to be haunted by pixels?

Feb 10, 2015:

Pixels are our twenty-first century Ghosts. They haunt me... and they haunt all of us, whether you are conscious of it or not.

So what are pixels? They are the discrete building blocks composing all digital imagery: digital camera photos; digital printers; phone, television, and computer screens; and more. Practically our entire visual culture (and much of our social culture) today is comprised of pixels.

Now, the really important thing is their ghostly nature: insubstantial, spectral, disembodied, ethereal, diminished- and with a capacity to haunt us. This seminal point requires exegesis, which the next installment will provide.

First though, a note about their Zombie-nature:

The proliferation of pixels is like in classic Zombie and other-world

Zombie image by Jean-noël Lafargue

invader movies. At first no one notices, but after a while, a few do; some odd signs, something not quite right. Then they (the Zombies) begin devouring everyone in sight, creating more and more Zombies along the way as the entire population becomes Zombified.

Now think about it- pixels are devouring primary experience. More and more, people find more beauty, wonder, satisfaction, entertainment, and such in computer-photographs and videos than in their very own 'here and now' Being. But these graphics are ghosts... diminished, spectral shades of primary experience.

We know not to look directly into the sun, but in shunning natural lights [metaphor] for the screen's distractions and weak artificial glow, we are yet blinding ourselves.

So it is with our visual, and increasingly our social culture, and the ramifications are profound... but barely visible at this relatively early time. We are still in the stage where only a few fathom what is really happening, and You following this narrative are among the vanguard.

So beware! Else you be thought mad...

Feb 13, 2015:

Alas, we approach the summit! How far we have come, and not an easy climb: to speak rationally of ghosts, zombies, and haunting in this time and place!

So close now, almost all in view. Let’s pause to catalog our insights, and then the final few steps.


And please, don’t hesitate to back-track and re-trace our steps. These notions are far from commonplace, and not “natural” to to 21^st century “thinking” [little thought and much blind acceptance, whatever the century].

So look back where you must, you want firm toeholds now, with the climax just feet away.


We have established that:

• Pixels have many ghostly attributes. They are relatively insubstantial; cannot be touched (you can touch the screen, but not the pixels behind the screen); spectral; ethereal; diminished, lacking the full essence of their progenitor (hence I prefer the more archaic term, shade).

• People honestly think they don't believe in ghosts, but are belied by their own words: Holy Ghost (implying other less holy ghosts); their claims to be spiritual; to commune with with nature; to be moved by music, art, acts of compassion, etc.

• It is the semantics that confuse us, but as Shakespeare pointed out, a 'rose' is a rose, regardless of its name. To be enraptured, discomfited, compelled, or generally moved by irrational or incomprehensible influences has for centuries been called haunted, and who can deny that we are all subject to such influence? That we are all at times haunted?

The only remaining step is to demonstrate that pixels (and more generally digital imagery and sociability) indeed haunt us, which will be very easy as long as you have some experience with electronic social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Note: If you have no such experience, you will not follow the section below, yet if you have observed others, then you will know they are bewitched; nothing else can explain such obsessive and compulsive behavior!

Social Media

A Haunted House

Starting with and keeping in mind the definitions and discussion above, minimal reflection will convince at least 90% of social media users that social media is indeed haunting, and that the key dynamics are driven by (pixel) graphics:

• People using social media hunger for social connection. 

• The sense of connection in greatly enhanced by the use of graphic icons, thumbnails, etc, that indicate the 'real' person behind the pixel-mask.

• But the real person is not there; the pixel-mask is a shade; a ghost, that commands our attention and even our emotions.

• We can even feel like Facebook 'likes' are pats on the back, little touches, even though we should (and do!) know better.

• Of course Facebook renders some genuine and valuable social interaction, but a large fraction of our sense of the value is an illusion driven by the ghostly pixels!

• All of these irrational feelings are indeed small hauntings that can cumulatively haunt us to a non-trivial degree.

Ah, but so what?

If it is interesting 
And makes us happy,

What's the harm?

Well, perhaps no harm at all, we are all unique individuals. But I will tell you honestly from my perspective:

• Far too much time spent feeding the Facebook maw with comments, responses, photos, essays, observations, poetry, imaginative narratives, etc; mostly all quality, creative, original works, and each worthwhile, even (and maybe especially) the personal comments and responses, but cumulatively diffractive.

• That is the key word- diffraction. Facebook fractures my sense of coherent being throughout the day, every day, whether or not I actually go on-line.

• The here and now is splintered by irrational impulses to check for feedback. Does anyone 'like' what I have written? Are people viewing my work? Are there typos? Is more explanation or elaboration required? Or more personal questions: How is X doing? Should I show more interest in Y? And what about Z?

• I feel the press of hundreds, even thousands of people, ever-present, ever-jabbering- a Babble, a Bedlam, I see them... but the reality is the hundreds and thousands are but shades; Facebook pixel-constellations; Cyber Ghosts! And I am haunted. 

Finally, these past three years I have spent a lot of time meeting, getting to know, and spending time with new people face to face in the human space. This has been extremely rewarding, and will continue to be a focus for me. And I wish more genuine, new face-to-face, human-space connections for you.

In comparison, Cyber-interaction is the dim shadow of a fragrant, glorious flower … A flower less and less in the sunlight as people invest more and more social energy and time in the Cyber-cave.

Stepping outside, I see vast, fragrant fields of tulips, lavender, daisies, poppies  … a thousand varieties … slowly morphing to plastic, dime store replicas …

Yes, I am Haunted...

And so I drum

Late at night when the moon is full

And the computer screen dark

And all is still

But the Aeolian wind

I drum

Wild, pounding, primal, mad rhythms

It is my exorcism

And perhaps someday

Hours into the night

Sitting at the screen

Bleary eyes

You will look away to rub them

And momentarily disengaged

If you are very quiet

You will hear my beat...