Further Musings on Immanence:

I've been thinking quite a bit recently on this subject... and, not wishing to completely bore the anamchairde that I'm blessed with by babbling on for hours about my various insights and random thoughts, I think the best thing to do about that is to make an entry in my journal about some of my musings. :)

I'm thinking a lot more about the idea that the otherworld is immanent within the physical world, and the implications that seems to have about the possible immance of other worlds, like the Dreaming. It seems to me that the Dreaming itself is definately immanent, as it touches upon the minds and hearts of all living beings in some way or another... and I define "living" rather more loosely than a biologist would, for that matter, as I would include mountains and rivers, cities and islands, and even the Earth itself among those things that live and Dream.

Then I thought about another nonphysical reality which is immanent within the physical world.... this one. "Cyberspace", or the internet. It touches upon the physical world in many places, where humans interact with it. And more, it moves beyond the physical to touch upon other realms as well... including the Dreaming. Don't believe that? I dare you to go to any site which archives fiction and read through the offerings there, and tell me that Dream has never touched this place.

Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? We call the physical the "Real World", and talk about how we shouldn't get upset about things online, since they don't happen "In Real Life"... but how can we reject the reality of a place which so concretely touches upon the physical, when we number among those who believe firmly in the reality of realms which are connected to this one by far more ephemeral bonds?

I wonder what the internet would be like if people started treating it as if it were actually real?