38 replies to this topic

[Marios Kyriazis]

Today I changed my display name in Longecity to my real name. I urge you to do the same. I believe that this will be a small step towards achieving an extreme lifespan, for reasons I discuss here:

http://hplusmagazine...-human-avatars/
(you need to read the article in order to understand my point).

It would be a good publicity stunt if Longecity was the first online community to suggest to its members to change their online name/avatar to their real name.

[MrHappy]

Er, actually, it wouldn't be the first online community.. Facebook pretty much set the bar on that one. What a wonderful site that is, too. /sarc

In the age of Google, where doxxing people is trivial and data retention is not an issue, why on Earth would you want to use your real name for public discussion topics that do not specifically revolve around the public profiles of the people involved in the conversation?

Do you think forum users would be so quick to share medical histories and potentially embarrassing information if they thought it would be 'on their permanent, instantly available, public record'?

Talk about stifling online discourses..

If you have something significant and permanent to share with the world, publish a paper under your own name, by all means. However making your entire daily online history publicly searchable is rather foolish.

[Marios Kyriazis]

Er, actually, it wouldn't be the first online community.. Facebook pretty much set the bar on that one. What a wonderful site that is, too. /sarc

In the age of Google, where doxxing people is trivial and data retention is not an issue, why on Earth would you want to use your real name for public discussion topics that do not specifically revolve around the public profiles of the people involved in the conversation?

Do you think forum users would be so quick to share medical histories and potentially embarrassing information if they thought it would be 'on their permanent, instantly available, public record'?

Talk about stifling online discourses..

If you have something significant and permanent to share with the world, publish a paper under your own name, by all means. However making your entire daily online history publicly searchable is rather foolish.

I don’t think you understood my point. The suggestion that Longecity should be the first online community to support the use of real names, is not without reason. Facebook etc users use their real names without any clear purpose. My suggestion is specific: use your real name IN ORDER to facilitate longevity. Not for any other reason. It seems to me that this small step that may facilitate longevity would be better be advocated by a longevity forum.

And I also disagree with your other points. Publishing a paper or two is not sufficient. I am talking about complete and total involvement within the global brain (the global digital communication network). Share everything, discuss everything, be informed about everything. This will (in my opinion) facilitate natural biological and evolutionary mechanisms that can promote extreme longevity.

Please explain why it would be foolish to make one’s history publicly searchable. Also please explain why, while you disagree with my suggestion to use real names, you apparently use your real face as your avatar in Longecity. Wouldn’t it be better -from the longevity point of view- to use one face and one name across all platforms in your life?

[MrHappy]

Please explain why it would be foolish to make one’s history publicly searchable. Also please explain why, while you disagree with my suggestion to use real names, you apparently use your real face as your avatar in Longecity. Wouldn’t it be better -from the longevity point of view- to use one face and one name across all platforms in your life?[/size]

I read your link before my last comment - I just don't agree with your premise.

Think about this for a minute. This site has, apart from longevity interests, many forum areas dedicated to medical issues. Some of the questions would be the type you might not discuss with people you know, but you might with a knowledgable stranger, eg. a doctor. For whatever reason, sometimes a doctor is not the chosen answer and help is sought by crowd-sourcing the problem, hence we have forums. The comfort of relative anonymity affords us a free and open discourse. Sometimes topics extend into gray or fringe areas of local laws.

There are already mechanisms in place to determine the accuracy of advice given, potentially more useful than a single opinion from a GP.

What you are proposing breaks an existing working system, creates enormous privacy issues and stifles discourse.

Information discussed without anonymity could be used by future employers to vet potential employees, by insurance companies to vet potential applicants, by the general public to gain private information about someone.

This is not a good situation for individuals, only for corporations and government.

Now, my photo only validates me to people who know me in real life, not some stranger using search engines to find me. I'm absolutely certain if someone was suitably motivated, they could already use my publicly available comments and postings to eventually find me, but it won't be as easy as a 5 second google or tin-eye search.

Unless you're the type of person that lives in a house made entirely of glass and freely disclose your medical history and browsing habits to anyone that wants to know, you'd be ill-advised to lose the protection of using a 'handle' online and not disclosing information that can be used to track you offline.

It's funny, they used to teach this stuff to young teenagers to protect themselves from online predators in the pre-Facebook era. Now, the gradual erosion of privacy has lulled most people into forgetting the basic guidelines for self-preservation and other people just have no idea how their information could be used against them. We'll have an entire generation brought up on social media, 'ripe for the picking' by future marketers and governments.

Freedom is overrated, I guess?

[Nootropic Cat]

I just want to know why you were called mrszeta before.

[bl4ck1ce]

I lead a somewhat public life because of my job, but I still do my best to keep my personal life private as much as possible. Publicizing that I'm interested in using experimental substances and drugs for off-label purposes like intelligence boosting and life extension may not be the best thing to do in case my clients and colleagues stumble across it..

[niner]

I just want to know why you were called mrszeta before.

I wondered if it was "Mr. Szeta" or "Mrs. Zeta". We should probably have a thread where we can say what our names mean. For instance, "niner" comes from a particular kind of mountain bike, not the San Francisco NFL team. (Although I once lived in SF)

[Marios Kyriazis]

I just want to know why you were called mrszeta before.

I don't know. I thought it was an established thing to use pseudonyms. Only recently, through our research, I came to realise that it serves of no purpose to have different online names.

I just want to know why you were called mrszeta before.

I wondered if it was "Mr. Szeta" or "Mrs. Zeta". We should probably have a thread where we can say what our names mean. For instance, "niner" comes from a particular kind of mountain bike, not the San Francisco NFL team. (Although I once lived in SF)

Mrszeta is taken from the consonants of my name, Marios, and the letter z in my surname. Mrs Zeta is also a transliteration of my surname in Greek. In addition, it was a deliberate attempt to confuse people to think that I am a female!

[Marios Kyriazis]

I read your link before my last comment - I just don't agree with your premise.

Think about this for a minute. This site has, apart from longevity interests, many forum areas dedicated to medical issues. Some of the questions would be the type you might not discuss with people you know, but you might with a knowledgable stranger, eg. a doctor. For whatever reason, sometimes a doctor is not the chosen answer and help is sought by crowd-sourcing the problem, hence we have forums. The comfort of relative anonymity affords us a free and open discourse. Sometimes topics extend into gray or fringe areas of local laws.

There are already mechanisms in place to determine the accuracy of advice given, potentially more useful than a single opinion from a GP.

What you are proposing breaks an existing working system, creates enormous privacy issues and stifles discourse.

Information discussed without anonymity could be used by future employers to vet potential employees, by insurance companies to vet potential applicants, by the general public to gain private information about someone.

This is not a good situation for individuals, only for corporations and government.


It's funny, they used to teach this stuff to young teenagers to protect themselves from online predators in the pre-Facebook era. Now, the gradual erosion of privacy has lulled most people into forgetting the basic guidelines for self-preservation and other people just have no idea how their information could be used against them. We'll have an entire generation brought up on social media, 'ripe for the picking' by future marketers and governments.

Freedom is overrated, I guess?

On the contrary, I think that having different online names and avatars inhibits discussion and freedom of speech.

For example, I have a lot of information that I could share with you, that can be of benefit to you and to your friends/contacts. However I don't know who you are. Are you a 16 year old dork? Or are you an adult sophisticated professional? I don't know how to pitch my information, so I decide to keep quiet. You and your subsequent contacts miss out, and I miss out on your feedback.

I have many things to discuss with niner, but because I don't know him/her I avoid the discussion. Whereas with brokenportal, I happen to know who he is in real life and I share quite a lot of useful information with him, information that he shares on, I get feedback, and everybody becomes slightly more informed.

My second point is this. My opinion is that using one name across all areas of one's life is a therapy for aging. Like all treatments and therapies, it has some side effects associated with it (namely the privacy issue you mention). My job is to suggest therapies for aging, and it is up to the individuals to decide to use it or not. Personally, I don't mind if others know private things about me. I don't believe I am important enough to make people interested in my private affairs. And if they do, so what?

[MrHappy]

I read your link before my last comment - I just don't agree with your premise.

Think about this for a minute. This site has, apart from longevity interests, many forum areas dedicated to medical issues. Some of the questions would be the type you might not discuss with people you know, but you might with a knowledgable stranger, eg. a doctor. For whatever reason, sometimes a doctor is not the chosen answer and help is sought by crowd-sourcing the problem, hence we have forums. The comfort of relative anonymity affords us a free and open discourse. Sometimes topics extend into gray or fringe areas of local laws.

There are already mechanisms in place to determine the accuracy of advice given, potentially more useful than a single opinion from a GP.

What you are proposing breaks an existing working system, creates enormous privacy issues and stifles discourse.

Information discussed without anonymity could be used by future employers to vet potential employees, by insurance companies to vet potential applicants, by the general public to gain private information about someone.

This is not a good situation for individuals, only for corporations and government.


It's funny, they used to teach this stuff to young teenagers to protect themselves from online predators in the pre-Facebook era. Now, the gradual erosion of privacy has lulled most people into forgetting the basic guidelines for self-preservation and other people just have no idea how their information could be used against them. We'll have an entire generation brought up on social media, 'ripe for the picking' by future marketers and governments.

Freedom is overrated, I guess?

On the contrary, I think that having different online names and avatars inhibits discussion and freedom of speech.

For example, I have a lot of information that I could share with you, that can be of benefit to you and to your friends/contacts. However I don't know who you are. Are you a 16 year old dork? Or are you an adult sophisticated professional? I don't know how to pitch my information, so I decide to keep quiet. You and your subsequent contacts miss out, and I miss out on your feedback.

I have many things to discuss with niner, but because I don't know him/her I avoid the discussion. Whereas with brokenportal, I happen to know who he is in real life and I share quite a lot of useful information with him, information that he shares on, I get feedback, and everybody becomes slightly more informed.

My second point is this. My opinion is that using one name across all areas of one's life is a therapy for aging. Like all treatments and therapies, it has some side effects associated with it (namely the privacy issue you mention). My job is to suggest therapies for aging, and it is up to the individuals to decide to use it or not. Personally, I don't mind if others know private things about me. I don't believe I am important enough to make people interested in my private affairs. And if they do, so what?

OK, so I'll dutifully place you into the 'glass house and public medical records' box and agree to disagree with you on this concept.


My final advice:

If your information is worth sharing, you really shouldn't need to pitch it - it'll sell itself on its own merits.

I have absolutely no problem conversing with complete strangers (in fact, I welcome it) and I can usually tell quite quickly from someone's writing style 'who' they are or what they are about. If age or gender is pertinent to the topic being discussed, I'll ask the question without fear of being rebuked.

Anyone can develop a working online relationship with a handle or persona just as easily as a 'real-life' identity. Am I interested in a meeting someone offline? Not really - it's not relevant. I'm interested in what they have to say and what I can learn from them - or what they can learn from me. That's it.

Perhaps if they have interesting ideas and/or a brilliant mind, I'd enjoy sharing a beverage with them, but I'm not here to socialise, I'm here to exercise my brain and help people. None of these events have required real names to enjoy them.

[Droplet]

I would have a real problem with a forum that expects me to use my real name. I just wouldn't want to contribute because I'd feel "vulnerable" for reasons already outlined by others. I have no problems with only knowing someone by a forum name even if I do wind up meeting in real life eventually.

[starlight_starbright]

The biggest issue is privacy. There is a great deal of talk about smart drugs on this forum. Who knows what employers might consider smart drug use to be equivalent to steroids?

[Thomas Cahir]

The biggest issue is privacy. There is a great deal of talk about smart drugs on this forum. Who knows what employers might consider smart drug use to be equivalent to steroids?

I think this is definitely a concern many of us share, its hard to
gauge at the time what you do online might come back to haunt you, its not
about being paranoid, merely cautious.

You never know what employer / rival might dredge up for there own gain
or simply as a background check that you would rather was kept private.

[Adaptogen]

youtube seems to be doing this, I have been asked twice if I wanted to use my real name for comments...I politely declined. I would no longer feel comfortable leaving inane comments without anonymity

[Droplet]

youtube seems to be doing this, I have been asked twice if I wanted to use my real name for comments...I politely declined. I would no longer feel comfortable leaving inane comments without anonymity

You and me both.

[Marios Kyriazis]

The point here is not privacy but interconnectedness. If (for reasons that I still cannot understand) you don’t like using your real name, all you need to do is to use a pseudonym, but use it across all online platforms, all the time, and don’t keep changing it. If you value your privacy more than your longevity, then so be it.
Perhaps when the theory of ‘extreme longevity through hyperconnectivity’ is more developed, some people may change their mind


http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/03/04/indefinite-lifespans-a-natural-consequence-of-the-global-brain

[MrHappy]

The point here is not privacy but interconnectedness. If (for reasons that I still cannot understand) you don’t like using your real name, all you need to do is to use a pseudonym, but use it across all online platforms, all the time, and don’t keep changing it. If you value your privacy more than your longevity, then so be it.
Perhaps when the theory of ‘extreme longevity through hyperconnectivity’ is more developed, some people may change their mind


http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/03/04/indefinite-lifespans-a-natural-consequence-of-the-global-brain

Wow.. Just wow.

OK, it's clear you either *really* don't get it, or, you're playing for the other team.

I'll just leave this here -

Automated:
http://www.guardian....ence?CMP=twt_gu

http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html

For hire:
http://www.socialintel.com/

http://www.sr7.com.a...-analysis-page/

http://www.propublic...-media-profiles

Further reading:
http://www.scienceda...20709162636.htm

http://www.hrzone.co...le/#node-126658

..and on the other side of that coin, we have more exploitation:

http://m.guardian.co...social-networks

http://www.infosecis...cial-Media.html

[Marios Kyriazis]

No, I really don't get it. I read most of these links but I can't see how this is relevant to me. I am not a terrorist, I don't do anything illegal, and I don't care if some CIA computer knows where I do my shopping. In fact, I will go a step further and say that we should not just accept but also actively promote hyperconnectivity. In any case, our discussion may be irrelevant because there is no escaping from the increasing pace of technological communication.

[MrHappy]

If you read the links you'd see the relevance to peoples' future employment and insurance prospects.. and it doesn't just stop there.
Additionally, if you think that automated social media scraping/profiling will be limited to the NSA / CIA / DHS / 3-letter-acronym-government-department-of-your-choice, I'd say you'd be wrong already.

On a different note, I wouldn't call online communications hyperconnectivity - yet - perhaps after Project Glass or implants. For now, I would suggest calling it extelligence. [nod to Pratchett/Cohen]

[Mind]

I am all for voluntary openness and transparency. In fact, I have proposed that all government workers should be under surveillance while at work in order to remove the "big brother" problem. They are supposed to be the servants of the people anyway, what do they need to hide from? (mods, please don't ban me for an off-topic comment, lol)

Anyway, I got mad at google for enforcing the real name policy on google+. Not because I have anything to hide (I am Justin Loew, btw), but because I value personal expression. By random happenstance I ended up with "Mind" as my name here at Imminst and I like to use that for most of my online presence. Anyone with half a a quarter brain and 2 seconds to spare could find out that Mind=Justin Loew. Why can't google figure that out? Modern virtual worlds (and internet communities) give people a chance to express themselves in different ways which includes using a different name. As long as google has the person's real name on file, why the hell does it matter what their chosen online name/presence is?

[bl4ck1ce]

I've mentioned before that I live a fairly public life due to my job, but at the same time I value my privacy.. I've tried finding myself online, and there's not much left to find. I've taken steps to remove nearly all of the Google results with any personal information about myself, and what is available online about me is stuff I've allowed to be there. I've heard the argument that if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to fear, but I disagree. I disagree because the definition of what is "wrong" is determined by people who often have an agenda other than the well being of the population. In many countries simply believing in basic ideals such as free speech and democracy are "wrong".

[Droplet]

If you value your privacy more than your longevity, then so be it.

Stress lowers the lifepan anyways. The stress of feeling vulnerable would help kill me even if using a fake name didn't. Personally I find the whole bickering over a set of syllables used for people's self-identification quite silly. Pseudonym or not to pseudonym should be a choice. whatever names I use I'm comfortable with, as they are just sounds used to get my attention and/or just identify me. In fact sometimes I will get called by my online name in real life and I'm cool with that.

I value my longevity but I don't value living in fear because I feel as if I live in a goldfish bowl and have no privacy. It is for the very same reason that I point blank refuse to put my photo up as an avatar. If this forum ever did implicate compulsory use of real names and photos I would leave and liaise with you and a couple of others on here solely via e-mail to help out.

Edited by Droplet, 13 February 2013 - 07:13 AM.

[Gerald W. Gaston]

If you search back through the forums, we have discussed this before. I was FrankBuzin then and recently in the last few years registered under my real name (display name made up from that but very obvious) and I link my facebook account (avatar/profile pic is from there). i agree with Mind it should be voluntary. Anonymity is still a valid need for many. In fact, after this year I will likely return to it here. Sorry Mind if all your hard work on my behalf ends up being for naught in the end.

[Suirsuss]

The point here is not privacy but interconnectedness. If (for reasons that I still cannot understand) you don’t like using your real name, all you need to do is to use a pseudonym, but use it across all online platforms, all the time, and don’t keep changing it. If you value your privacy more than your longevity, then so be it.
Perhaps when the theory of ‘extreme longevity through hyperconnectivity’ is more developed, some people may change their mind


http://hplusmagazine...he-global-brain

Wow.. Just wow.

OK, it's clear you either *really* don't get it, or, you're playing for the other team.

I'll just leave this here -

Automated:
http://www.guardian....ence?CMP=twt_gu

http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html

For hire:
http://www.socialintel.com/

http://www.sr7.com.a...-analysis-page/

http://www.propublic...-media-profiles

Further reading:
http://www.scienceda...20709162636.htm

http://www.hrzone.co...le/#node-126658

..and on the other side of that coin, we have more exploitation:

http://m.guardian.co...social-networks

http://www.infosecis...cial-Media.html

Ok so if you read the article in the OP what hes getting at reminded me of this study on centenarian hotspots around the world. One thing they all had in common was a tight knit cohort of people that they had known for a very significant portion of their lives. So when you say "playing for the other team," I believe you should remember that this is a longevity centered website and not a cryptography forum. The point is if all the people in your life are not as enthusiastic about longevity as yourself then there will likely be a time when you have lost all of those you once knew and loved.

Anyways that's what I've taken from the OP and it makes sense. Having said all that I don't use FBI book anymore and everyday I contemplate getting switching from gmail to a provider that doesnt sift through my mail for profit.

[Luminosity]

By their behavior, people have pretty much decided to protect their privacy and safety by having online names, both here and elsewhere. I agree. It would be hard to discuss health problems under people's real names, or a constant online name that some people would eventually connect to you. Not all online communities are as well-behaved as this one. If someone gets into a nest of idiots on one website, they could be followed around online, by your logic. I don't know why you think your idea would promote longevity, but I doubt that. There's better ways.

[Marios Kyriazis]

By their behavior, people have pretty much decided to protect their privacy and safety by having online names, both here and elsewhere. I agree. It would be hard to discuss health problems under people's real names, or a constant online name that some people would eventually connect to you. Not all online communities are as well-behaved as this one. If someone gets into a nest of idiots on one website, they could be followed around online, by your logic. I don't know why you think your idea would promote longevity, but I doubt that. There's better ways.

The concept of exposing oneself to information in order to promote extreme lifespans has been discussed in the article in question, and more scientifically here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.2734 It is a long paper but it explains in detail what may happen if one is hyperconnected (i.e. fully exposed to actionable information).

I have been using my real name online for years and I never once had any problems with privacy. The majority of us are not important enough for other people to be interested in.

[Super Neuro]

I have been using my real name online for years and I never once had any problems with privacy. The majority of us are not important enough for other people to be interested in.

If anything, using our real names online pushes us toward a sense of responsibility that we wouldn't have otherwise. When knowing your comments at this moment will be forever (literally) linked to your name, you are likely to be more careful about what you say. This is a fact even psychopaths understand, as they are high self-monitors.

Peripherally, this means that any online communities you enter with your real name will be more like a real-life community. Without anonymity with which to disguise yourself, you will be less likely to hurl criticisms. With your real name attached to your comments, you will be more likely to contribute prosocially.

I'm still in the process of reading through the paper you linked, but I'll come back if something in there strikes me.

My name's Damon Verial, by the way (just so this post doesn't seem hypocritical).

[ksbalaji]

I have been using my real name in the internet throughout, if I remember correct, right from the year 1995 when I could get access to the data world in my place (Chennai, India).
I was also impressed by people using pseudonyms which projected what they perceive as their own outlook to the world. It is something welcome if the person is not averse to revealing his or her identity. Otherwise, the connections with such people only deserves the value we offer to the anonymous or the faceless though we keep on evaluating what is being conveyed.
However, I am not a person comfortable with using different names amidst different groups. Mine was a conscious decision to keep my name the same whether to connect with the real world or the web or elsewhere. Elsewhere - I mention since I perceive different planes of connections like my connection with God for instance. A singular identity makes my life easy. I feel the worth of transparency. It constantly reminds me of openness. It facilitates me to have truth in my trail, to be really challenged, to accept mistakes and to rectify. I have been benefited -trust me given my experience.
I see that the theories about safeguarding privacy are born out of the fear of misuse of identity in most cases and the fear of the unknown. I do not dispute these theories as they are based on facts. But we have to remember that it is a choice of being comfortable with living a REAL LIFE everywhere we are present or being anonymous and living a puppet life where one is different from the puppet projected as oneself! Now, if the choice is to act as a puppet, even for a short while, the time spent living as a real person is allowed to be robbed! Unfortunately, for us, we have a single real life. Can anyone imagine living two different lives simultaneously? I cannot.

Are not we here for REAL LIFE EXTENSION?
The choice is there.

[Villain]

What happens when some religitard, or agnostitard decides to go on a killing spree?

No thanks, anonymity keeps me alive.

[Marios Kyriazis]

What happens when some religitard, or agnostitard decides to go on a killing spree?

No thanks, anonymity keeps me alive.

How is she going to find you?
Also, if this 'killing spree' takes place in public, how is having a real name or a pseudonym going to protect you?
Silly argument.