On one level, I feel very comfortable talking to all of you over the computer. On a second level, I feel like it is an illusion and find myself less able to open up in person. Cyberspace is somewhat of a virtual reality, in that it mimicks human interaction, but remains distant from the essence of what it means to be a social animal. My roommate and I had an entire discussion about the libido. In addition to powering our sexual drives, it actually has a broader meaning.
Humans require physical interaction.
The computer can't provide that. I think I do now. Now that I have said more and more through conferencing, I could talk to most of you about personal things. . . . Only after we shed our virtual selves did the class begin to emerge as an actual community. We came in separate, but we all left together.