This is part two of a two-part post; a brain dump of potentially lilliputian proportions. The first part was about the idea of Transactive Memory and outsourcing certain types of brain function to the web. This post is about what this new way of thinking and functioning means with regard to our individuality. This might be tricky.

Part two:

There is a long tradition, that is surprisingly hard to document with any specificity online, of indigenous cultures and first peoples being unwilling to have their pictures taken by visitors with cameras – at least initially. Many of these cultures eventually shifted toward allowance, ambivalence, or even adoption of technologies like the camera, but even today there are people who do not allow their pictures to be taken. Continue reading →