Noah
Posts: 1660
Joined: 7/5/2005 Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth Noah, Not a phobia, its a matter of focus on a goal. If I want to buy something without personal contact your reference to Ebay and the like is appropriate. We enjoy face to face contact. I don't want any of my inherent skepticism getting in the way of trusting that a person is who/what they say they are. It's been my experience, requiring a meeting either makes the person disappear or ends up being regarded as a friend. I want to get that out of the way as soon as possible before applying any misdirected trust. If the goal is to have a personal, someday physical relationship with an individual you'll glean very little you can rely on via the internet. If its a goal to make pen pals or live a fantasy the internet is a very good conduit for exchanging banter. People agreeing with the same goals should enjoy the process. The OP wasn't indicating what goal she had but I never respond to a post without checking the profile of the poster. In this case her profile said she was; "Interested in meeting in real-life only." I gave her the response to make that a reality. You never miss an opportunity for a legitimate person to person relationship by asking for a meeting quickly. You DO miss out on wasting time IM'ing and messaging back and forth to someone locked in another relationship or a bored college student. Seeking a relationship, get off the internet correspondence ASAP. Seeking anything else, type away and enjoy. No phobia Noah, just pragmatism. The phobia would be rationalizing why you didn't want to meet with a relationship as your goal. Thanks for a really nice response. Maybe the difference in our views toward this subject has a lot to do with your having more of a goal-oriented view of things than I do. I don't think one is better than the other. We each proceed according to our preference. I happen to disagree with this part: "If the goal is to have a personal, someday physical relationship with an individual you'll glean very little you can rely on via the internet." ... insofar as there have been a number of times when I met and interacted very intimately immediately with people who I got to know, and trust, over the internet. That may or may not have been a "goal" in any particular case. In some cases it was; in others it just worked out in that direction. And it wasn't what I would call "play." It was meaningful and important for both parties in each case. Since I don't generally go into an interaction with a goal of eventually meeting the person I don't count any waste if I have some enjoyable conversation with a person, discover that we don't have all that much to talk about and soon go our separate ways. Kind of like Sinergy said, I think, I'm in it for what what I end up finding in it--come what may. Maybe it is like the difference between exploring and searching, which look very similar to the casual observer but which can have important differences although each is a worthy enterprise. If you choose to use this medium as a more specific sort of tool, specifically for meeting people, then that is cool. You two are obviously people who know how to enjoy life along the way. Please don't think that I am casting any aspersions in the way I try to describe what I see as the differences in how we choose to employ online conversations. I was a little confused by this bit: quote:
The phobia would be rationalizing why you didn't want to meet with a relationship as your goal. Did you mean that deep down, everyone's every interaction here is founded on an intention to meet and have a relationship? That any claim to the contrary is rationalizing? Or were you talking more specifically out of (what I guess is) your own view that for you it is all about meeting and you would be rationalizing if you talked about it any other way? Or did I miss your meaning altogether? Thanks again for a really nice response.
|