Freedom, Reality and Charlie Sheen

I just have to start by getting something off my chest: if I never hear another mention of Charlie Sheen's name, or see another photo or video clip of his dorky face, it will be too soon. Arrogance and stupidity are a really bad combination. Come on, people! A tantrum-throwing toddler needs to be sent to a quiet corner for a time out, not put on camera and given a microphone. I'm calling for a Charlie Sheen reporting moratorium...

So looking back over our MOO conversation from last week, and the introduction to Lessig, it struck me that at times, we seemed to be debating about freedom vs regulation as if the two were mutually exclusive...an 'either/or' proposition. But, and I think this is what Lessig is also saying, freedom is never really without limits. Where my freedom and your freedom might collide, there is a boundary. It's the same with privacy vs security. Where your privacy threatens my security, something's gotta give. I found this statement, which was actually in the HBGary email in Jon's post about the Feds plotting an invasion of social media, spot on: "When choosing to participate in social media an individual is only as protected as his/her weakest friend." That's a very good point, and an important thing to remember.

And then there's this question about 'reality' that keeps coming up. Is cyberspace real? Of course it's real. If you're reading this, you're part of it. But is it a place? I'm not sure I would call it that. To me, a place is something you can find (or put) on a map. That's the definition I'm going with. And to that degree, cyberspace isn't a place exactly. That's why people call it a 'virtual place,' noting that it has some of the characteristics of a place, but isn't a place in the sense that Chicago or the park by my house are places. So in a virtual place, what's reality?

The reality of cyberspace is the very real interaction between very real, tangible people. It's you reading my words, just the same as you could read them on a page in a book. It's people getting together in a chat room to discuss their shared experiences with caring for a parent with Alzheimer's, or dealing with teenagers, or following the Houston Texans. Real people. Real issues. Real interaction.

But not everything in cyberspace is real, just like not everything in real life is real. Cartoons, fantasy fiction, alternative gaming worlds....these things are not reality, regardless of where they live. Real people may watch the cartoons, or read the fiction, or play the games, but that doesn't make them reality. I'm pretty clear on that. The problem is that much of the activity on the Web falls somewhere in between: real people interacting in made-up places. Or made-up people solving problems in real places. So maybe it's not so clear after all.

So to sum up...we need both regulation and freedom on the internet. And we need both privacy and security. And cyberspace is both real and imaginary, depending on where you surf. And I don't like Charlie Sheen.

I guess maybe some blog topics are just easier to articulate than others....