“Having” and “Being,” the 24/7 Code
“Having” and “Being” are the condensed answers to the questions of the heteronymous awareness of life that I discovered from both Martin Heidegger and Erich Fromm. From having – meaning merely consuming – the Internet, we have moved on to “being” the Internet.
Those of us who are online exist – individually and also as a collective – in a specific historical context: the Era of the Internet. In order to completely understand this new habitat that is today’s digital world, we must adjust our behavior, as determined by the economic and social demands, so it not only fits into the historical context, but (if possible) also the predominant Zeitgeist. Therefore, we passionately and energetically foster the economic and social system that surrounds us even on the Internet: we are becoming parts of a machine whose function is aimed at complete understanding, transparency, striving for efficiency, and success.
These goals also characterize our everyday work, but through our involvement with our company, meetings, and social networks we all too often forget that we are still humans, with the full spectrum of human emotions and attitudes. The drive for success and efficiency requires a positive attitude towards life and extreme personal commitment, to the core of one’s being. But what happens to these goals when times become tough, one goes through a difficult phase, and one wishes only to hide from the public eye? Admitting to weakness, conceding to mistakes, undergoing hardships, becoming despondent, feeling helpless; all these human feelings and behaviors are unsuitable for one who is truly at home in the digital world. Instead, they spring from a real human being in a real-life situation who is also afflicted in his or her digital life. On the Internet, however, there is no room for weakness or shortcoming; here shines only the resplendent victor. Therefore, the Web user seeks always and ever to think positively to maintain this masquerade online, which can quickly come to the Web user suppressing every trace of weakness and every instance of failure (by himself and by others) from his consciousness. By purging such thoughts from one’s psyche, these concepts lose the right to exist in the digital world, affirming once more the “sanitary code” of the Internet, which allows only the positive and the beautiful, to the detriment of the psychological health of the individual.
This development pertains not only to the individual, but also the environment of all others who have committed themselves to this digital world. He who considers himself to be a true citizen of the Internet also expects others to always feel good, and assert such at every opportunity. The user surrounds himself with those who are inspiring and interesting, distancing himself from the weak and the failures, shutting them out of his world. That is the unwritten law of the Internet, with punishment meted out to those who don’t play by the rules.
This evolution will eventually lead to the development of a completely new type of person in the digital world: the “Internet-standardized person,” who easily and naturally fulfills the aforementioned requirements. This new persona will be more attractive to others, and will become dominant as others seek to emulate this ideal.
This development is already in evidence. It is no temporary fad soon to fade. Rather, this type of person will not only establish himself firmly in the Internet culture, but become its defining element, the standard for all generations to follow. A further danger naturally exists if this behavioral encoding and standardization of the Internet spreads from the digital world and crosses over into the real world. Such tendencies can already be noticed in the real world, though due to the diversity of human behavior in everyday life they have not yet firmly established themselves, as is the case in the digital world. This is because the digital world is a much more “confined” environment comprised only of communication. However, if this wave were to explode out of the Internet back into the real world, this evolution in real life would accelerate much more rapidly. Before it can become a philosophical phenomenon, these trends serve as a wide field for sociologists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts, who would be well advised to undertake this study now, during its development phase, instead of waiting for the trend to fully manifest. Never before in human history have machines had such an all-encompassing meaning for all aspects of life as they do today.
Machines link together the entire world, and for this reason have become more than just the instruments of supply and demand regulation, but rather the philosophical nucleus of the economy and thereby for many the most meaningful source of content for one’s life.
Machines have become a fundamental part of most aspects of human life. We, the users of the machine, must be flexible, mobile, confident, sociable, and individualistic. It will also be expected of us to conform to the 24/7 availability code, which up to this point has only been expected of the machines themselves, and by nature cannot apply to humans, who need time for rest and rejuvenation for physical and mental survival. We are attempting to take on the characteristics of the machine, as these aforementioned traits are becoming bit by bit the primary qualities by which a person’s worth is measured, and are indispensible requirements for a successful online life.
When viewed psychologically, this machine-orientation means that the individual existence (in terms of actual capabilities, idiosyncrasies, and needs) is meaningless, except that which can be sold, or arrives promisingly packaged or portrayed. What matters is not the actual self, but instead, how one chooses to portray oneself to the rest of the world via the Internet. Success is not achieved by depicting the facts, but by presenting an image that is accepted by others. Thus, the online existence leads to a debasement of the real existence and the authentic interactions of a person. The human psyche then attempts to compensate for this absence of the existence and experiences of the self. A favored method of compensation is conducted by Possession, rather than the Existence. The Possession quickly develops into a consumption culture, an unending spiral spinning in the wrong direction. The Existence walks in the shadows, the Possession stands in the light. An untenable situation, completely thrown out of the balance of a sensible life, where circles of people defined only by consumption orbit like satellites around one’s polished image, one’s avatar in the Internet, without the contact with reality that the personal existence desperately longs for.
Deciding on a personal definition of the individual existence is the requirement for a self-determined life with all the ups and downs which are so important for the development of the self, as crises are often the fundamental requirement for a large step in personal development. We cannot forget the most human and valuable capability which keeps us grounded in reality and down to earth: the capability to love and be loved. Love is not machine-made; never will it become a mere possession.
