Telepresence or Teletrouble (Blog #3)

In chapter 3, Dreyfus discusses the possible benefits, but mostly the negative aspects, of what he terms “telepresence”. Telepresence, in essence, is distance presence. “Tele” is derived from Latin meaning something similar to “far off”. The individual is able to be present to things mentally, but not necessarily physically. An example of this would be a live web cast. The individual viewing is “telepresent” to the events taking place. Telepresence can extend even further. When people chat online such activity could also be considered telepresence since conversation is a traditionally embodied activity (increasingly less so since the invention of the telephone, however).


Dreyfus, not surprisingly, sees this trend as destructive; especially towards education. He runs through a series of examples, including medical school “teleinterns”. In addition to the issues he raised about distance learning in the past chapter, Dreyfus notes that if online classes were to become the norm, then traditional lectures would likely be offered only to students willing to pay a higher fee. This, he says, “would amount to an elitism not much different from the English elitism of Oxford and Cambridge vis-à-vis the other universities that don’t have tutorials” (63). He is also concerned that telepresence technology “deprives the learner of bodily involvement in a risky real environment where he has to interpret the scene himself and learn from his mistakes” (65).


Another area of concern for Dreyfus is online conversation. He finds that such interaction can never be entirely genuine, or trustworthy. Dreyfus sees a need for human contact (like a handshake, or a hug) to inspire trust. He believes that if this background trust were missing, “as it would necessarily be in cyberspace, we might tend to be suspicious of the trustworthiness of every social interaction and withhold our trust until we could confirm its justification. Such a skepticism would complicate if not poison all human interaction” (71).


Dreyfus’ second point, in my opinion, is the most fallacious. Dreyfus himself admits that one does not immediately trust another simply because of a handshake, or a hug. In fact, sometimes immediate contact inspires mistrust. While one has to be cautious online (when in open forums and sites), I do not think every web surfer disbelieves the intent and content of other users. In everyday conversation, people enter with some measure of skepticism. People are highly skeptical creatures. The mistrust factor is further eliminated when the online forum is made up of friends, family or fellow students (as this blog is). In such a case, trust and understanding can only be expanded. Even in fan communities such familiarity is established. Frequently aficionados of Star Trek, Stargate or Firefly (to name a few) will attend conventions and meet other fans in person. Obviously, however, one has to be highly careful when meeting such individuals since there really is no easy way of determining their intent (they could be stalkers!!). This, however, has not deterred the hundreds, even thousands of people who meet like this.


While some measure of trust is lost in cyberspace, another layer is gained. Frequently, at least in my experience, when online, people tend to be more honest about many things. The opportunity to think and write out a response, as opposed to developing one “in the moment” gives the individual the ability to articulate their thoughts more effectively and, sometimes, more honestly.


I am not suggesting that we should join the Extropians and download our minds into cyberspace, as the sculptor in the film was urged to do. I do believe, however, that the ability of the internet to connect individuals next door and worldwide should not be rejected. What we are able to do with this blog would not really have been possible ten years ago. As with all technology and advancement human beings must be careful and develop a coherent and effective ethic to manage our relationship with that technology. After all, how could we ever turn our backs on something Al Gore invented???



Iris