Posted by Toph on March 29, 2008, at 20:27:15
What is it that allows us when watching some movies or reading certain novels to separate from reality and fall into the author's world? Suspended disbelief is the willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. At least temporarily we fall in love with a character, we feel intense hatred for a fictitious villain and we cheer a heros triumph as if were our own. To some degree suspended disbelief is a phenomenon that occurs here on Babble as well. Participation in this cyber community is frequently filled with assumptions, acts of faith, trust, attachments, rivalries, loves, friendships and any number of intellectual and emotional experiences that, in part, involve the suspension of disbelief. We convince ourselves that a whole host of things are true - that we have anonymity, that posters are honest about themselves, that the information they share is accurate, that participation itself is a benign act and maybe even helpful. We even suspend certain realities about ourselves such as veracity of who we portray ourselves to be in anonymity, and that time spent here is more valuable than time spent on work or with our families.
For me, suspended disbelief on Psycho-Babble has allowed me to believe, at least while Im here, that being chronically mentally ill is not so bad, that I can be helpful to someone Ive never even met in person, that people care about me despite my faults, and that I have learned some valuable lessons about communicating with others.
With fiction, returning to reality is usually as quick and effortless as closing a book or listening to someone talk loudly in a theater. If the story is especially compelling or traumatic the suspension of reality can linger as with Wells War of the Worlds, all the empty beaches after the release of Jaws or the nightmares I had after viewing the Exorcist all those years ago.
I guess for me, I dont want all the countless hours that I have spent here to be an entertaining illusion of fiction. I need it to have value. I want the posters to be who they convey themselves to be. I hope that the information I seek is accurate. I want to believe that the administrator is always making choices based on the best interests of the individuals here and not because of some professional advantage. And I want to believe that this reality, while staged in an artificial room, has been of real benefit to me and not merely a suspension of disbelief.
Toph
poster:Toph
thread:820584
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20080313/msgs/820584.html