Friday, May 28, 2010

Infinite Proximity and Other Things

I think I have a few more posts  to write before I can publish The Blog Post, but I wanted to communicate where I'm at right now.  My working thesis is something like the following:

Through a close reading of John Donne's poem A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, it can be extrapolated that he viewed romantic relationships that were "elemented" by physical proximity as less meaningful than relationships that were transcendent of it.  However, as social media tools have become more prevalent, we're experiencing the phenomenon of infinite proximity, which means that all relationships are or have the potential to be transcendent of place.  The metaphysical experience of being able to transcend science has become a reality.  This paradoxical reality can be interpreted as beneficial or detrimental to society, but in the end, the lesson to be learned is that technology cannot take the place of the transcendent, spiritual connection between lovers Donne wrote about.  Physical proximity is essential.  Essentially, Donne's metaphor has been flipped.  Right?  

I'm working towards getting a "critical mass" of support for this idea, which I think will help me to whittle my thesis down a little bit more.  So, look for some upcoming blog posts on metaphysics and the concept of infinite proximity.  Thanks for all your help so far, guys!    

1 comment:

Gideon Burton said...

I really like the phrase "infinite proximity." You should check out others writing about "ambient intimacy" since I think you are tapping into the same concept.