[arg_discuss] Deception and what it means to be Real

[Thomas Maillioux]

Following this conversation without pitching in much right now - all that I
could have brought up came up in other people's words, maybe better than I
could have. This brings up many interesting questions regarding social
interaction, social spaces and social masks : I'm sure Jean-Paul Sartre
would have loved reading all this.

I'm not completely sure the words "hoax" and "deception" completely apply
since both terms involve a "malignant" intent fueling one's actions while
the person behind "Martin" seemed to intend no harm, emotional or otherwise,
to anyone by doing this - maybe just entertaining an online *alter ego *like
people sometimes do ? After all, as someone mentioned earlier, the
interactions seemed genuine enoug : they did seem to be "the same mind".