Through the 12 Megapixel, High Definition, 4G Looking-glass

   Though perceived by all of us differently, there is no set definition of reality that everyone can agree to.  There's the dictionary definition, but what is said in print can often be drastically different than what is seen through pictures. In today's networked world, reality from across the globe is as real to us as events happening in our own back yards, and while technology has advanced, the subjects in the pictures have remained unchanged, even if they're not 100% honest.
   Even the older generations of today's society are discovering the new reality of what this digital age of photography, networking, and sharing really is.  Today's reality is as much digital as it is tangible, something seen and unseen.  So how does one explore the world through something as mundane as taking another glance at what's already there?
   Much like the old Lewis Carroll stories of Alice, today's society has to look deeper into what is present, and see a new world in the already existing one.  In this, we travel through the looking-glass, however modified, electrified and modernized it has become.  We reflect on what we see in the world, and experience it new ways, once we let go of old perspectives.  This new slant on the world allows us, like Alice, to make our own world, our own reality.  Taking what is already present, this technological society is able to shape, touch-up, enhance, distort, mod, and otherwise change the very reality once known, and present it as a new idea, a new reality.  In our attempt to recreate a custom world, we sometimes go against what is considered the "norm" of society.  Even such popular television shows like Mythbusters utilize that same mentality, of creating our on worlds;  one of the hosts, Adam Savage, is known for his catchphrase, "I reject your reality, and substitute my own!"

   Aside from nonconformity however, the other side of today's world is that what we see, when we create our own world or look at the reality already present, isn't always the smiling and happy picture being displayed.  Oftentimes we only capture the images of those better moments.  As the reading said, a good example of this blissful ignorance of negativity can be found in children.  We see kids today, at ages as soon as they can talk, already demanding their wants.  They scream, they shout, they argue for what they think is theirs, even though they can hardly form a complete sentence.  But why is it that the older generation looks down upon this, and woefully reminisces about the bygone days when children were nicer and the world a lot less serious place?
   Truth be told, we only make a point to remember the good times.  The old VHS home movies?  Or, (egads!) that old relic, the photo slide projector?  These antiques of a long gone day documented our world long before our reliance on wifi and cell signals rivaled that of our necessity for oxygen.  But look at what's contained in the slides and film, and you see smiling faces, laughs and good times with family and friends.  Even the tools of the days before us, we  made a point to remember the good times.  Every kid has his good days as much as his bad days; we're human, we're good and bad.  Now with our Crackberries, our iEverythngs, and Wifi/3G/4G/Broadband connections, we do just the same as the forerunners of this technology.  And while we may have the physical documentation of the good times, sometimes what the real world truly is just can't escape us.
   On a darker, briefer point, we near the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center bombings from 2001.  That day lives clean and clear in the memories of scores of millions of Americans.  Memory is a fine storage space, but even then, sometimes the mind fails us and we rely on our cameras to ensure we've kept evidence of the truth.  Unlike the photographed world we see elsewhere, this was one of the few times in American history that pictures weren't just something taken for a hobby; at that time and place, photographs were a necessity.  (DISCLAIMER: Due to the unsettling nature of the photos, only the links will be posted). http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/08/30/FallingMan_060829015536020_wideweb__300x430.jpg , http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGC/StaticFiles/Images/Show/28xx/281x/2810_inside911_zero_hour-1_04700300.jpg
   Our digital society may be user created, edited, and published, the world isn't the beautiful smiling gem that we as a society have polished it out to be.  Look at the Facebook profile of any student, you'll see them with friends, or a fond memory of some nature.  We simply choose to see what we want to see, whether its the "real" reality or not.