Paranoia

There are four things that are never satisfied: the world of the dead; a woman without children; dry ground that needs rain; and a fire burning out of control. 30:16

Today I was asked, again, to amend a comment I put in someone's blog. I was asked ever so kindly and politely, and I simply gave the asker the directive to delete my comment. (And if this person is reading this post, please know that while your request got me thinking about paranoia, this post is not really aimed at you because I understand the reason for your request.)

This got me thinking about the nature of on-line communication. It made me think of why people use screen names instead of their own names, it made me think about why people have numerous screen names, or numerous blogs (I myself have two). It made me think about administrators tracking IP address so they know who is posting. It made me think about the online persona that I've seen put forth by people I know IRL, and wonder about the disconnect. It made me think about lurkers. It made me wonder about people who admit to paranoia and others who should.

In some ways online communication oozes with loneliness, people seeking social or emotional intimacy with someone--anyone, really. Or to quote the words of an anonymous friend of mine, "The blogosphere is largely composed of people seeking more human contact. We write to say something, or anything, that matters to someone, somewhere." Yet there persists a strong unwillingness to reveal truth about oneself. So often it seems we want to know, but not be known.

Overheard:

Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.