Fear of Death and Itch for Freedom

The reticulated nature of this project’s creation process inevitably invited me onto a trip escalating towards my biggest fear and underlining itch: death and freedom. The initial focus on digitalisation of online personas is more like a catalyst towards dissecting a philosophical understanding to the psychological alteration the digital worlds has permitted; Consequently revealing some of the underlining struggles within the extensive use of social media. At one point throughout the exploration, an obsession with a philosophical analysis engrossed upon me. In hindsight, the ignorance that was presented was to an extent, quite terrifying for me. I decide to dissect the reasons behind my obsession with the idea that the mind needs to be freed from the body.

1. Fear of death

Activities within the virtual reality are limited by the fact that not all human senses could travel through; with this understanding, I’ve taken a philosophical approach to defining the idea of digitalisation. Despite my engrossment towards this idea of transcendence and the digital space, my attention quickly adhered onto escapism from physicality and into the virtual world which sets free the minds. To really dissect and expose the true underlining fear I personally experience, is the fact that I will die. Not when I am old, not tomorrow, not anytime because the fear does not adhere to the idea of time, but with the fact that I will transition to this state of being. As a person, I value physical actives on an unbalanced libra compared to psychological activities. Physical interactions were avoided at most, and unlike Meursault from The Outsider, I do not have any sex drives. The lack of physicality is in a position of stark contrast with a number of psychological activities that goes on. All relationships within my life are platonic, and more of an intellectual encounter or share of knowledge. (which sometimes I wondered if it’s because I readSymposium at an age that’s too young). But these all contributed to the construction of my fear towards death, the state in which is embodied with physicality, and absolute zero psychological activities. One might argue that death is the point in time which physical body becomes defected, thus no physicality as well. However, from a philosophical and almost grotesquely romantic take, I’ve always think that at the state of death, I am immersed within and enclasped by a form that fully surrounds my mentality. It is the suffocation of physical deficiency that sewed the breathing hole of my psychological activities.

2. Itch for freedom

Freedom within limitations, a constant reiteration throughout the conceptual development. Whether discussing constructions, identities, cities, virtual realities or social media, I’ve constantly touched on the edges of the idea that it is free will within a contained situation. The constant reminder throughout almost feels like a manifestation towards how troubled I am with this idea. To a point, it feels like many of the struggles were blamed upon this idea of artificiality. To dissect upon, it is perhaps the thirst to self-express within this diluted world filled with information that barely expresses anything. A sense of identity and who I am are constantly being stimulated by the tide, being flooded and washed. Parts and aspects of who I truly am or prefers to become dissolves within the information or saturated use of social media. The urge to break through these situations is perhaps what really pushed forward my attachment towards the idea of mental and physical separation.