I like to think I use the internet for learning, for broardening my knowledge and wisdom, and not for lolcats, twitter and porn (I begrudgingly use the middle one, that’s about it). I like learning new things, at least when they have some form of relevance to me. I want to know how to better my writing and get more out of my lifestyle. That’s just an example. Though I’m not opposed to it per se, I don’t have any interest in Indian culture (why is it everyone who goes to India seems to come back Indian, anyway? What is the big draw? Why’d John Howard have to sell Telstra anyway?). Chinese culture, depends. I love Jet Li movies (especially Hero, the most artistic load of utter-bull fantasy swordplay I’ve ever seen) though I dated a Chinese girl once. Like noodles though. Just not the horrible, disgusting kind we have at home, the sub-par cheap brand instant ones. Yuck. I don’t mind Japanese culture; they do noodles too, though I so can’t stand seafood, so I’ll gladly give any of that a miss. I did try a sushi train once, though admittedly it was to try and get to know a girl better (that didn’t go so well – and on that tangent, why do all writers ignore me on facebook? Is it some kind of conspiracy? Are they truly that busy they don’t have time to answer their messages and never log in… or are they just that rude?). Travel doesn’t really appeal to me, though I suppose somewhere mediterranean or european might be nice. Out in the wine country, by the red sea, doesn’t seem so bad in theory. I don’t HATE culture, I just haven’t had an overwhelmingly awesome experience with, well, experiencing it. Blame the dislike of Indian quisine on ASD, for example.
Anime though… we have a jaded love affair. There are exceptions.
Anyway. The internet has opened up a whole universe of knowledge. Some of it’s even reliable. So why aren’t I excited like the energiser bunny about learning? Why aren’t I using this resource for all it’s worth? I’m far from using the full potential, sitting here updating my blog about updating my facebook status and googling myself.
How I wish I had my 15 year old zest. You know, from before reality kicked me in the gut and I realised my school friends were fickle phonies who I really was better off without, 1.5 of them notwithstanding. Maybe it was because I hung out with people who thought learning was boring and gay, the bogans… that today I have an unhealthy cynicism from the age of 17 and it only got worse as I pushed people away (the irony!). I did hit a severe depression from 17 to 23 1/2, and I didn’t accomplish a single thing, which certainly didn’t help matters. I just bitched about it to myspace, and got very few replies because myspace, despite its tagline, was not the place for friends. Not for me, not at that time. Like I said, dark days, and misery that bred more misery. How much of it was justified, I wonder?
I could have used that time to learn, explore, discover. Of course I didn’t know anyone who liked to do that kind of thing, so I wasn’t exactly encouraged to. That’s why people like Ashleigh, Misia, Mick, Kala, Jess aka Malice, and other free minds like them are so important. These days I love learning again, though it’s been a rocky uphill trek to getting out of my depression and into a higher state of being. But like any good thing, it’s a trek worth taking for a goal worth attaining. I’ll get there one day.
Until then, I can only be like the truly wise and admit that I know nothing.
