We must ask ourselves, as vocal and involved users of the internet, one simple question: Why do we use the net? I believe the answer to that question is that somewhere deep inside the bowels of instinct there is a piece of all of us that wants to commune with others.
This is not a matter of instinct. Communication in all of its forms and ways is an elemental need for what is refered to as "community". This fact is widely analysed throughout sociological literature, such as N. Luhman (to give but one example).
This is not a unique idea, this is not a new idea.
You bet.
If this is the case, then why do we form divisions in the community based on software or hardware selections?
From my point of view this refers to the whish of individuals heading to be specific, to be distinguishable against other individuals, to be better, superior. All individuals (in modern societies) dare to be unique and to be recognized as being unique. But on the other hand, there simply can't be any society without at least one community. So all individuals need to flock together in communities, defining themselves via being identical or at least comparable in some way (refer to Habermas, Adorno, Horkheimer, Giddens, Weber, Marx, Engels, to name but a few.) This is a cause for several conflicts common to societies in general.
All sociologically recognized changes within any community are based on such conflicts, but oppinions wether this is a matter of the conflict between classes - as seen within marxism - or as "just another 'hint' of social evolution of society" - as eg. Weber might argue - varies within social sciences. One will find this kind of conflict as the one observed here (the "clash-of-the-systems", or simplyfied "my-computer-is-better-than-yours") all over human society: This-car-is-better-than-that, This-team-is-better-than-the-other, This-fashion-is-way-cool, This-is-hype, etc.
All of those conflicts can be reduced to "I-am-better-than-you", which on the other hand reflects to "Me and all of my kind are better than you and all of your kind", because each and every individual is measured (and sociologically positioned within the community) in front of his social background, which again depends on the community he belongs to. As Marx and Weber have shown, communities (in the meaning of a social class) divide in two kinds with one very special distingtion:
Members of the class "by itself" (heck, in german "fuer sich") share the same sociological position within scociety, but each member is "for herself" and acts individually, since she isn't aware about the fact her social neighbour being in the same "situation".
The class "on its own" (in german: "an sich") is the same as above but differing from above all members are aware about their neighbours situation and therefore act collectively and behave solidaristically.
All of us have one in common: we are using a computer in one way or the other. We are aware about the fact, our social neighbour being in the same situation. Due to this fact we behave as a class on its own against those not using computers or those not wanting to be refered to as "computer-users" (as a general term). Both classes try to distint themselves from the other as being "better" and both gaining internal stability and a feeling of "we" / "us" by doing so.
Inside this community (of computer-users) several rifts and cracks divde us in several sub-communities, having the same kind of mechanism (conflict) active to distinguish ourselves from the others due to the fact not all members of this community want to be compared to all the other members in a way of being identical (tendency of individualism.) But since distinction leads to social isolation (in last consequence) and isolation leading to loss of communication and this (phew, finally) leading to social death, we all again need to flok in groups, dividing internally further and further.
Because we are positioned in more than one community in any given time we develope a personality via the profile we build up (and get "dictated" in some way) by gaining social ranks in these communities whilest refusing this or even (trying to actively) lower those ranks in in other groups.
(If you read this far and are still on track, than you need a cheer: you are way ahead in terms of knowledge about the theoretical social structures and dependencies of society than most of the other people;)
What I want to say? Well, these discussions (disputes, flamewars, holy wars, conflicts) about such "irrelevant" topics as hardware and software have a message and the message is loud and clear: We are a community within society, we know this, so watch it! We might come over you one day!
Until that time we will build up a hierachy within our community to etablish our powers and improve our social situation: collectively and individually in the same time.
Slashdot Mirror
We must ask ourselves, as vocal and involved users of the internet, one simple question: Why do we use the net? I believe the answer to that question is that somewhere deep inside the bowels of instinct there is a piece of all of us that wants to commune with others.
This is not a matter of instinct. Communication in all of its forms and ways is an elemental need for what is refered to as "community". This fact is widely analysed throughout sociological literature, such as N. Luhman (to give but one example).
This is not a unique idea, this is not a new idea.
You bet.
If this is the case, then why do we form divisions in the community based on software or hardware selections?
From my point of view this refers to the whish of individuals heading to be specific, to be distinguishable against other individuals, to be better, superior. All individuals (in modern societies) dare to be unique and to be recognized as being unique. But on the other hand, there simply can't be any society without at least one community. So all individuals need to flock together in communities, defining themselves via being identical or at least comparable in some way (refer to Habermas, Adorno, Horkheimer, Giddens, Weber, Marx, Engels, to name but a few.) This is a cause for several conflicts common to societies in general.
All sociologically recognized changes within any community are based on such conflicts, but oppinions wether this is a matter of the conflict between classes - as seen within marxism - or as "just another 'hint' of social evolution of society" - as eg. Weber might argue - varies within social sciences. One will find this kind of conflict as the one observed here (the "clash-of-the-systems", or simplyfied "my-computer-is-better-than-yours") all over human society: This-car-is-better-than-that, This-team-is-better-than-the-other, This-fashion-is-way-cool, This-is-hype, etc.
All of those conflicts can be reduced to "I-am-better-than-you", which on the other hand reflects to "Me and all of my kind are better than you and all of your kind", because each and every individual is measured (and sociologically positioned within the community) in front of his social background, which again depends on the community he belongs to. As Marx and Weber have shown, communities (in the meaning of a social class) divide in two kinds with one very special distingtion:
Members of the class "by itself" (heck, in german "fuer sich") share the same sociological position within scociety, but each member is "for herself" and acts individually, since she isn't aware about the fact her social neighbour being in the same "situation".
The class "on its own" (in german: "an sich") is the same as above but differing from above all members are aware about their neighbours situation and therefore act collectively and behave solidaristically.
All of us have one in common: we are using a computer in one way or the other. We are aware about the fact, our social neighbour being in the same situation. Due to this fact we behave as a class on its own against those not using computers or those not wanting to be refered to as "computer-users" (as a general term). Both classes try to distint themselves from the other as being "better" and both gaining internal stability and a feeling of "we" / "us" by doing so.
Inside this community (of computer-users) several rifts and cracks divde us in several sub-communities, having the same kind of mechanism (conflict) active to distinguish ourselves from the others due to the fact not all members of this community want to be compared to all the other members in a way of being identical (tendency of individualism.) But since distinction leads to social isolation (in last consequence) and isolation leading to loss of communication and this (phew, finally) leading to social death, we all again need to flok in groups, dividing internally further and further.
Because we are positioned in more than one community in any given time we develope a personality via the profile we build up (and get "dictated" in some way) by gaining social ranks in these communities whilest refusing this or even (trying to actively) lower those ranks in in other groups.
(If you read this far and are still on track, than you need a cheer: you are way ahead in terms of knowledge about the theoretical social structures and dependencies of society than most of the other people ;)
What I want to say? Well, these discussions (disputes, flamewars, holy wars, conflicts) about such "irrelevant" topics as hardware and software have a message and the message is loud and clear: We are a community within society, we know this, so watch it! We might come over you one day!
Until that time we will build up a hierachy within our community to etablish our powers and improve our social situation: collectively and individually in the same time.