Some parting remarks. The question of identity clearly touches a nerve in all of us. My gut feeling is that we are going through the early stages of a longer process of rethinking/reworking our notion of who we are and how we relate to each other and the world. This can be expected to be very confusing, since old dogmas will be called into question and new feelings will be searching for some form of articulation and expression. A suitable Australian metaphor is of the snake shedding its old skin. People in the future who will have the fuller benefits of this will be able to look back and say "Ah yes, that was the time when these matters were debated, lived out, and resolved." These latter day selves may no realise just how confusing it was for us. That's life. I am reading a commentary on the work of the philosopher Hegel at the moment, and there are some striking resemblances between what Hegel thinks is fundamantal to life - the need for recognition - and what is happening across Australian life. (The "Phenomenology of Spirit" seems to be a key work of Hegel in this regard. I am yet to work my way through the issues.) Our new sense of identity will have to be negotiated with others, to provide them with the recognition they too require. Life has reserved some very important matters to be worked through in Australia. While working them through intellectually has its place in this process, they are not merely intellectual matters and will continue to unfold whether we give them our attention or not. The question in mind is whether or not that unfolding is improved by what we say and do using this technology? My assumption has always been that it is, although it is easy, as Trudy says, to be misunderstood. My guess - good will wins every time. I am unsubscribing from the list for a while as i need to turn my attention to some other matters. Good luck, and may the fog of confusion give way to the light of clarity. Bruce 3 May 1999 ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
