We've got the power...

[The Person]

Ever wondered if what is said on this board is true? I'm pretty sure nobody here knows very many people here at CFC in "real" life (is there such a thing?"). So how can we know that people here speak the truth about themselves. (This goes for all the rest of the Internet, too, but still...) I was just wondering if anybody has any thoughts about what power we've got to make people think you are a completely different person than you are in "real life".

 

[Xi 12]

I've wondered that too... but then, I started a website and discovered the internet back allies.
Sometimes I don't even know what I'm typing about.

 

[ybbor]

we don't. which says something about our society, we trust. yet we're questioning. *realizes this is humor forum* of course, how do you know i'm someone who can be trusted. for all you know i could be plotting to kill you right now using an expired carton of pudding.april 32nd 2007, that's the day my legions of mutated chipmunks and i make our move. or for all you know i could be the ghost of your great-grandfater, and get those thoughts out of your head! or i could be osama bin laden from a secret underground complex underneath a pudding factory. or i could be regular old me, again, it all cmes down to trust

 

[Perfection]

I'll garuntee ya, I'm just as much a self-centered bastard in real life as I am on the forum.

 

[The Person]

Originally posted by Perfection
I'll garuntee ya, I'm just as much a self-centered bastard in real life as I am on the forum.

How can I be sure about that?

 

[sourboy]

Who cares? It's not like the thoughts in one's head change when they log in here. Maybe the words that come out do, but that's either a self confidence issue or the need to be a closet jerk hiding behind the shroud of the internet.

As far as possession or status goes, it matters not. None of that counts here. The only other thing would be stories. People may say they have done this or that, but the story may not be their own experience - but that of a friend or relatives. It doesn't matter though. Whether told by the first person or the third, the point will be understood the same by the reader.

 

[Achinz]

I think that's one of the pluses of the Internet - that it is possible to project an alter-ego. The ultimate test is if this persona can be maintained and you can escape the associated hazards of schizophrenia in real life

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Why is this in H&G?

 

[Mrogreturns]

Originally posted by Aphex_Twin
Why is this in H&G?

Humour is a subjective thing.

For me the definitive proof of this is the fact that some people consider Jerry Lewis to be funny. If there are people who can laugh at Jerry Lewis then for all I know there may be people who, upon reading the first post, laughed so much that they had to be hospitalised after swallowing their own tongues.