Feed aggregator
So... New here... Mhm...
So I'm 15 and not at all new to the Furry thing, just didn't exactly know what it was and got a taste for the hate of the fandom and the stereotypes and whatnot at least a year ago and got scared off, but now I'm here. Also knowing that I'm 15 makes me sound like a little brat hipster ( which I might be, dunno, ) so let's ignore that detail for now. I just wanted to say hi and talk whilst I jump into the fandom face first. Hopefully face first into fluff, not cement.
Any who, I do have a fur, Jay The Wolf, whom my username is based off of. Hopefully the photo is paired with this, I'm not sure how well my mobile app will work. The drawing is not by me but my a friend of mine (she also didn't know what furries were at the time, but now is one as well. their name is covered by my thumb obviously) although I do draw somewhat, mostly digitally. Me and some of my friends have had these characters since about 5 years ago, based off sonic the hedgehog, and only me and the artist of the drawing I presented went in to be furries and understand what was going on.
Currently I only know three furries, one is the friend I mentioned earlier, all of which I know in reality and talk to daily.
So... I guess I'm here to party then!
Like I said, I'm not new to the furry thing and I do know some of the NSFW saying and what knot (please never let me make that joke again,) but I am kinda new to actually being involved, so I guess I'm kinda nervous about just joining the fandom seriously. So let's talk! :3
~Jay The Wolf
Post Script; No NSFW kthx.
submitted by JayThaWolf[link] [27 comments]
Transhumanism
The furry identity can be seen as a kind of voluntary psychological experiment. We are disconnecting the idea of ‘self’ from the reality of our physical forms.
All people do this to some extent. Furries, at least those who socialise through the guise of an animal-person avatar, are a special case. The disconnection is more clear, and more extreme.
Collectively, we may be experimenting with identity on a scale that has no comparison in human history.
The loose connection between our human bodies and our furry identities is fascinating from a psychological point of view. There is a fledgling discipline related to our behaviour—transhumanism—which researches both the virtualization of identity (such as the furry identity), and the integration of technological augmentation (more on that later).
Let’s take an extreme example: a furry who engages with society entirely through a furry identity, and who thinks of herself as an animal-person ‘on the inside’. Her identity is expressed entirely through her furry avatar, and her human self is just a biological mechanism. Let’s call her Furry Zero.
Most furries are like Zero in some ways; she is simply at the extreme end. Those furries who don’t have a furry alter-ego are at the other extreme, and the rest of us are somewhere in between. Some people are further along the spectrum than others.
It’s different for everyone: the reader may wish to consider themselves as an example.
I’m going to use myself as an example: I have a virtual furry identity. I’m not an edge case like Zero, but I’m pretty far along the spectrum. Internally I prefer to think of myself as JM, animal-person, but my identity is partly associated with the human biological organism named Matt.
For Zero, her human body is a purely physical entity; her furry identity is purely mental.
In case this all makes me, or Zero, sound a bit fruity, it’s worth mentioning that all people do this to a degree. There are always differences between each person’s physical form and mental identity.
For starters, let’s look at how parts of the body are sometimes considered critical to identity, and sometimes considered irrelevant. Starting at the irrelevant end, consider fingernails. It’s rare for people to feel any loss of identity when they trim their nails, but it does happen (ref). Moving into more relevant body parts, the fingers are important to identity for more people, and so the loss of one is more likely to be personal. And more people will be affected by the loss of an arm, and so forth.
The biological items most often important to identity tend to either be identifying features (such as a face), or those that allow us to fulfil basic human functions (such as legs or genitalia). The point here is that each person’s identity only includes a subset of their physical body.
Zero has no association between her physical body and her identity. So she feels no loss when she cuts her fingernails, and if she lost an arm she would feel pain and be inconvenienced but would not feel any loss of identity.
The difference between each person’s physical form and mental identity extends beyond personally ‘important’ and ‘unimportant’ body parts. There are also aspects of identity that exist outside of physical form.
This process is called virtualization of identity, a path well-trod by furries (led by Zero), and is becoming common in the modern world. People are living more of their lives online, creating virtual identities that are different from their physical selves. This is happening mostly in small and subtle ways, but it represents a big shift in the way humans interact with each other, and the way humans perceive themselves.
The shift towards online identity has created some wonderful opportunities and improved the lives of countless people. (Not least is the ability for physically disabled people to interact in a way where their disability is irrelevant.) It has created some problems too, and these problems are what interest psychologists (and editors of tabloid newspapers) the most.
Inhabitants of the world are rapidly moving online, with internet penetration exceeding 40% of the world’s population (ref). People are exploring differences between ‘online’ identity and ‘real world’ identity. The first steps towards separation of these two identities is typically modest, but is already causing societal change.
A whimsical example can be seen in the Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem (summarized here). In a simple ruling by the Court in the salad days of the mid-1990s, it was determined that ‘virtual’ sin is not ‘real’ sin. The decision was made over a crude augmented reality technology, which was designed to give the experience of eating pork: the user would eat baked tofu while being exposed to a virtual reality that invoked the look and smell of real pork. They judged:
“In our view virtual pork is totally permissible, has nothing to do with real pigs, and thus can be enjoyed by Jews.”
This apparently common-sense ruling was (predictably) cited as precedent a couple of years later after someone engaged in virtual adultery. In considering virtual pork, the Court failed to guess how virtual experiences can be real, and how they can inform identity just as much as something that happens in meatspace.
Zero, and the rest of us furries, are several steps ahead on the journey towards virtualization of identity. We experienced the challenges of online relationships long before mainstream society or the Rabbinical Court, and we continue to lead the way into deeper water. The experiences created by our collective transhumanism provide clues to changes that society might expect in the future: social groups may grow with less reference to geography; people may become less class-oriented; society may see more diversity in sexual behaviour, sexual orientation, and gender.
Virtualization of identity is a kind of transhumanism driven by modern technology, but it’s not the only kind. A second change in the way humans create identity is driven by technological augmentation. This is where people look for technological solutions to mental problems. We can see the first steps in this direction with on-board vehicle technologies such as collision detection or ABS (which will overrule the human driver), and wearable technology like smartwatches or Google Glass.
Technological augmentation becomes useful for what researchers call ‘high bandwidth’ problems. The human brain is very good at activities like pattern matching, but cannot process large amounts of data. High bandwidth problems are those that require a lot of information from the outside world, information that would normally overload an individual’s processing capability.
The human/Darwinian response to high bandwidth problems is a kind of mental ‘tunnel-vision’, where we focus on important data in a way that cuts out a lot of background information. An example of this is the psychological phenomenon know as ‘flow’, where a person becomes immersed in a complex problem, becoming less aware of his surroundings. He will put more mental resources towards solving the problem, but will receive less information about his ambient environment.
That extra information can be important. Technological augmentation can gather this information to help us: either by overruling our actions, or by summarizing that information in a manageable form. Such augmentation is most advanced in modern combat environments (background info from Psychology Today here), although we are starting to see it appear in some of today’s consumer goods.
The societal response to transhumanism—both virtualization of identity and human augmentation with technology—is, to date, lacking sophistication. Most commentators could broadly be classified as either Luddites or Libertarians. These two groups of opinion, the techno-pessimists and techno-optimists respectively, are considered by experts to be simplistic and fundamentally flawed (ref).
Experience shows that, when technological augmentation is available, then people will enhance. Zero will certainly take advantage of technological enhancements to her physical self, because she doesn’t have any personal attachment to her human body beyond its biological function. So why not upgrade?
We furries are transhumanists. We adopt virtual identities that uncouple our selves from our physical forms, and we are inclined to explore augmentative technologies like Oculus Rift or FaceRig.
There is little doubt that the growth of transhumanism will bring huge changes on human society. Many of these changes will have unpredictable effects, just as with previous technological revolutions. But societal upheaval is rarely a bad thing: human society has been changing rapidly since the Industrial Revolution, a time that (for all its ups and downs) has seen massive improvements in worldwide literacy and life expectancy.
As human society continues to change, it’s reasonable to expect that things will broadly continue in a positive direction. And we humble furries are, at least when it comes to transhumanism, the vanguard.
Until death do you apart(Zombie...so gore?)
Question for non-American furs
In America, furries have a pretty bad reputation due to the media. I was wondering how people perceive furries elsewhere. How do people respond when they know you're a furry or see a fursuit? I'm just curious.
submitted by Flurra[link] [23 comments]
[Discussion] Why do we call everything anthropomorphic furry?
I think it's wrong. I am a furry, someone who likes and enjoys to see anthropomorphism in art, stories, costumes... That does not make everything that is out there that is anthropomorphic furry to me. I don't have furry characters, I have anthropomorphic ones. I am the furry, not the art. The Lion King, for example, isn't furry, but has obviously inspired people to become furry. I just don't like the term to be plastered onto anything that gives animals human traits. It's a wrong use of the word.
What are your thoughts on this?
submitted by King_Masada[link] [15 comments]
Furry Regrets Cutting Off All His Friends Because of Their Sexual RP
I'm not entirely certain what my question actually is. I am partially writing this just to get my thoughts and feelings in order. I will attempt to explain my situation, and maybe a question will come to me.
As of a few weeks ago, I have effectively severed all ties with the furry community. I have stopped talking to, and in some cases blocked, everyone I used to talk to. At the time, I wasn't entirely certain why I did that. I felt distraught, confused, and scared. Pushing everyone away seemed the only option at the time.
After I calmed down, and reflected on what I had done, I began to understand what had upset me so much. I am an introvert, and I do not make friends easily. In my life there have been less than a dozen people I could really call a friend. Within furry fandom almost all the last friendships I had developed were, on at least some level, sexual. (I had one friend with whom sex was never a factor, but he rarely contacts me. I doubt if he even really considers me a friend at all.)
It was the sexual aspect of my friendships that had upset me so much. I wasn't sure exactly what my friends wanted, or why they had a sexual interest in me. Was I just simply convenient, and available? Did they want to be "friends with benefits"? Did they see me as a potential mate and long-term partner? Even more confusing and upsetting was a question that kept rattling around my head. What did I want from my relationship with them?
Anyways, I was scared, and confused, so I cut them all off. I know I hurt, at least, one of them because I gave no explanation for what I did.
I should wrap this up with a question for you. I guess my question is should I try to explain what I did and why to my friends?
No One of Consequence (age 42)
* * *
Dear Someone of Consequence,
If you still consider them your friends or want them to be your friends again, then, yes, you do owe them an explanation. As someone who has been on the receiving end of this situation (a furry I knew in San Francisco stopped talking to me, and I never found out why), I can tell you that not knowing can really hurt one’s feelings.
So, try and reestablish contact with the ones you felt were your friends and explain yourself to them. Tell them you got freaked out by the sexual content of the conversations you were having and apologize for overreacting—yes, overreacting.
In my experience, a little online RP or flirting is usually harmless among furries and means nothing really, other than they are horny and seeking a little fun. Also in my experience, if you come across a furry online and he or she makes some advances on you and you ask them to stop, they will, and they usually apologize. What you need is the courage to communicate your boundaries to those with whom you are forming relationships online (or in person) in the furry community. You, being a shy introvert, probably failed to do that because you were embarrassed or felt overwhelmed by others’ forwardness. You shouldn’t be afraid to express what you want in a friendship to others, especially at your age.
Part of communication is explaining not only what one wants but also what one does not want.
I know you are a shy person, which makes it harder for you to approach people, but when you yourself are approached be open to new friendships but don’t be afraid to tell someone “No, thank you” if they makes a move on you that you are uncomfortable with. Learn to set your boundaries, but be kind ("Thanks for the flirting, but I'm really not into online sex talk.") People, in general, will not get mad at you; indeed, many will respect you for not letting yourself get pushed around and for knowing what you want.
Hope that helps!
Papabear
He Is Afraid to Do Something about His Abusive Younger Brother
FREE YCH RAFFLE! OPEN! (Link in the description)
FREE YCH RAFFLE ON FA https://www.furaffinity.net/view/13033690/
submitted by KidaTheFox[link] [comment]
New to the fandom, looking to network
So, I'm 26, just decided to embrace my attraction to the Furry fandom, and don't know anyone who is (or would openly admit it). Its a huge stigma in many of the circles I'm in — funny thing is they're all nerd/gaming/animé fans — and I have little knowledge or experience with the fandom or anyone within. What's the best way to network online or locally with other Furs? I have a Facebook, Skype, Google+, Steam, and Second Life usernames (I have an XBOX-Live, PSN, and Nintendo account, I just rarely use them at this point in time until I move out) and am in Jacksonville, FL (for any local Furry communities)
submitted by VyllCyillan[link] [9 comments]
Furries on Dr. Phil
Description on TiVo for the 3/25 Dr. Phil show, "Animal Obsessed": "Frances' obsession with her 13 rabbits may be hurting her relationship with her daughter; Gary says he is part human and part dog and tries to live as much like a canine as possible; Lori hates that her 20-year-old daughter attends furry conventions."
See, the fandom had nothing to fear from him.
Hello Kitty! You’re Free!
New news for the upcoming Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, May 3rd at comic book stores all over. This time, from the Viz Media imprint Perfect Square: “Hello Kitty and her friends star in all-new comic book adventures, and this time they’re letting their imaginations run wild! Plus: Don’t miss the sneak peek of Perfect Square’s upcoming tribute book celebrating Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary. Bonus feature! Perfect Square introduces exciting Bravest Warriors adventures featuring the irrepressible Catbug!” More on this and other Free Comic Book Day offerings can be found at the official web site.
image c. 2014 Perfect Square
Need Help with Fursona!
Although I am not brand new to the furry community, I am only about 1 month in. I need help picking a fursona - suggestions, links, anything would help!
Here are a few things about me that might assist:
•15 years old •Male •Favorite Colors: blue and green •I like Foxes, Dalmatians, etc,
Thanks again!
submitted by PortableTaco[link] [21 comments]
COD Ghost Clan
Are there any clans already? I'm thinking of starting one for PS3 and PS4! Feel free to pm me!
submitted by mythortruth[link] [1 comment]
Here is Felicity in color. I need an idea for a background and some critique. Thoughts?
The Old MMORPG SecondhandLands is back up!
I don't know if you used to play it, but i did. It's been down for nearly 2 years but last night it finally went back up!
http://www.secondhandlands.com/
submitted by snelrev[link] [6 comments]
Finally figured out my sona and have 15$ to spend on a commission. Who would you recommend?
I'm looking for some who can draw a good "cartoony" look!
submitted by Yiffing_Time[link] [9 comments]