In today’s news..

I wanted to share with you my perspective on two interesting topics that caught my eye today.

First, there is this article on Cyberchondria, a relatively new condition tightly linked to the availability of unfiltered information on the internet. Many people take advantage of the fact that the internet is a limitless source of information and take matters into their own hands when trying to understand symptoms they develop. Which, as the article points out, leads to mis-self-diagnosis and subsequent anxiety. I said I wanted to share my perspective on this: this concept can be generalized. Excess information and virtualization can be disruptive to one’s development. Take, for example, people who read an overly documented wikipedia article (or other sources) on some questionable topic and become obsessed with it, letting it dictate the way they act and evolve.

Or take, for example, people who feel at ease online – in discussion boards, social networking sites, etc. Which leads me to this article on a disturbing topic: web suicide. Yes, you got it: a guy took his own life by swallowing antidepressants and videocast the whole process, while viewers encouraged him and laughed about it. (!!!) My first thought on this is: “Fucking animals!”. But they’re much worse. Because I actually think that it’s a pity that some of our animal instincts are repressed and I’ll write on this in the near future. This is how I feel about this subject: I wouldn’t blame myself for not answering to one’s cry for help if they’re strangers or I barely know them. Call me a heartless bastard, but I wouldn’t like to be near such a person and absorb their negativeness (I can feel compassion for another person, as long as they’re not hurting themselves on purpose). But for God’s sake, if I saw someone trying to commit suicide, I wouldn’t fucking encourage them. Yes, I know the dumbasses in that chat room were some retarded teenagers, but it still makes me wonder what kind of thoughts are repressed by civilized people every day.