Miss Ang wants to warn us the dangers of virtual reality :x
PLEASE READ!

Point 1: In the virtual world, we do not see or hear each other in reality. In the case of a blog, the only way we communicate is through language and standardized fonts which are common to us all. There is nothing unique about the way each of us speaks.

Point 2: This makes identity virtual and easily duplicated/replicated. "Mr Teo" is simply five letters which are easily typed, as is any other name, like "William" or "Hsiaotien".

Point 3: At the same time, a name is still a claim to identity--it assigns some degree of "reality" or "real value" to the statements about 3C that our fake Mr Teo has composed. And obviously Jerian has fallen for this. O.O

Inference 1: Therefore the virtual world (or virtuality as a quality) has created a test-case for what is unique about us: it forces us to question if there is anything distinctive about us as individuals. After all, what we eat, wear, think, the very words we speak, are easily duplicated. You're drinking a coke, so am I. You like coke, so do I. How does that make anyone of us unique?

(And if you think about it: the notion of the virtual is everywhere: in a forged cheque, a Michael Jackson imitation, Disneyland which looks exactly alike in Tokyo as in Orlando)

Point 4: Then what IS unique about us? As Raimie has pointed out "Mr Teo doesn't do that" and Alicia said "that one sure fake one la". How do they know? Of course we all know what the real Mr Teo is like, what the real Raimie is like, the real Jerian and the real Miss Ang etc. But how is this ascertained for real in a virtual situation like the shoutbox at the bottom of your blog? Is it Haokuan being bored? Is it a malicious prankster from another class? Raimie who faked Mr Teo and then pointed out it was fake? Mr. Teo faking himself? Who knows? Can we ever know for sure?

Point 5: Raimie and Alicia, who think they know, will point to the sappy phrases such as "3C loves me" and other unprofessional and childish things a teacher will never do e.g. announce whether he/she is taking a class next year on a blog. But Jerian, who was taken in at that point in time, will point to the emotional truth behind these statements, whether they are fake in origin or not.

Therefore, as a way of closing this, I will open a question: How can we ascertain who we uniquely are in a world which is increasingly filled with mass-produced stuff? What can we leave as our signature?

For this blog, the answer is simple, even simplistic--use your real name in the shoutbox and mean what you say.

As for "real life", that's extremely difficult. Are you an RV student, someone's son/daughter, a fan of 3C? How can we refer to ourselves uniquely without referring to something else?

Very best,
Miss Ang