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Years ago I read about an artist who did a piece in which he got rid of absolutely everything he owned in gradual increments, until just for a few minutes every single possesion he had had been either destroyed or fully given away. There he stood with no clothes, no driver's license, and no documents with which to procure legal identification (etc.), and, of course, not a cent to his name.
I think about that story a lot. What is my attachment to the things i have, whether in the material world or outside? What does is mean to live in a world in which keeping track of so many things (many with no actual usable value) has become paramount to our well being and basic chances for success.
Lately I have been thinking about that question in the context of virtual "things". For instance, if this is 'just a game', what is my attachment to it? How attached am I, really, to the points? to the 'proof' of my praxes? to the declarations of 'relation'? to the recorded evidence of my virtual comments and conversations? If nobody can take away the experience of my having done the tasks which i have done, does it still make me uncomfortable to think about losing (or forfeiting, giving away, or even just sharing) those points which i have been awarded for doing those tasks?
I've been robbed of my Intellectual Property, dammit! . . . Wait, no, what i meat to say is "I'm not attached, but i sure do feel a sense of serene connectedness with harry right now" ;D