When Lasn suggests "Perhaps there is no such thing as an authentic self... We understand intuitively that machines are becoming more like humans, and now via the promise of virtual reality we have the opportunity to meet machines halfway" First, I ask in what ways are we acting more like machines? I see virtual reality as another step for machines in the direction of humans. We have simply created a machine in which the user can feel less like they are operating a machine. I disagree with the statement than we are meeting them halfway. Also, like many others have argued, these warnings and negative comments are written in the wrong tense. It is certainly evident that a (quickly) growing portion of the population is turning to online gameplay. The author writes as if this entire portion is in the category of "addicted." This is also certainly not true. While I do not think these statements are currently true, they are becoming true. Slowly, and it is not inevitable or impossible to divert, these things are happening but as I see it the human race has an uncanny ability to fix things in dire situations. If gaming ends up being blatantly detrimental to people, these problems will be averted. A convincing argument for the power of gaming is given by Jane McGonigal at a TED Conference in 2010
Whether it was the frontier of the West or the frontier of traveling to the moon, every generation of Americans has had a 'frontier' to identify with. Some have predicted that far space will be the next frontier, however, our technology advanced enough to do so. Even still, humans wouldn't be so connected to this frontier as it would largely remain conceptual for over 99% of the population. The virtual realm offers a frontier that is close to the everyday person and it is largely unexplored. The fact that it is quite possibly a vast and endless wasteland makes it all that much more intriguing to find out. These, of course, are opinions not about my personal feelings but towards people as a whole.
I found it interesting that some people describe their experience of gaming as "liberating" or "freeing". Just yesterday I read an article about fear and backpacking in the wilderness. Some of the participants in the study described being in the wilderness exactly the same way. Are these people both fulfilling the same desires or are the causes of these feelings different? Both people engage in these activites because they want to get away from societal norms and structures. It is discouraging to see that people deviate away from an activity that is which is physically and mentally healthy to an activity which is questionable in both aspects.
It is strange to consider a gaming or social networking experience as liberating. If you think about it: both require you to sit in front of a screen, unmoving for lengths of time. Those who participate in these 'worlds' often get caught up/addicted to them. In the movie, on the release of a new game or version, a few of the gamers we followed were shopping for 'quick' snacks, and the one guy even bought a cooler so he wouldn't have to walk to the fridge for a drink. That doesn't sound liberating to me, it sounds constricting. How can we, as society compare something as natural as backpacking in the wilderness to sitting for 18 hours a day in front of a screen and say that they both fulfill our desires to as you say 'get away from it all'? In my opinion they aren't even remotely comparable..
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how these individuals find it liberating to strain their eyes looking at a computer or tv for a ridiculous amount of hours of the day. It might be considered liberating to the individuals with disablities who feel more comfortable online, but it is not liberating for everyone. I think it is just an act of being lazy and becoming more and more detached from things such as the wilderness. I agree with you when you said that every generation has it's own frontier and that it is verying intriguing to find out more about it. I also completely agree with the so called addictions being avoidable. We all have to power to step away from our addictions. I really think society has just forced us to being lazy and people think the best things for us are just what is the easiest for us. Yeah, it is easy to just accept the fact that our population is finding more addictions and to let it go, but I feel it needs to change or we will find ourselves completely lost.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that some people would refer to online gaming as being "freeing" or "liberating" because they have the power to be whoever they want to be. To some people this is considered liberating. However, it may seem extremely bizare to everyone else. I feel as though people are extremely too quick to judge others and that is the reason that gamers feel as though they have to get away from it all. I personally do not understand the gaming world, because the only online I do is for school and facebook, but if people are willing to spend countless hours in front of a computer screen, let them. It is what makes them happy. Who are we to tell them that it is a waste of time or that is isn't real when they obviously get so much out of it.
ReplyDeleteI also can understand why people find "virtual" spaces so freeing. It does give people a way to be who they want to be and escape reality, but that’s all I think it is, an escape from reality. If you liked your real life so much why would you want to take yourself away from it to be in another life, one that involves staring at a computer screen for long hours. It is very interesting to think of "virtual" space as a new frontier but I don't think it is right. Lets say you are in a chair in your living room playing a game in which you are staring at a screen in which you are pretending to be another world. You can't compare this to the frontier of the west because when your in the west; you are in the west. When you are sitting down you are sitting sit down on the dirt in the west you are sitting on the dirt in the west. This is not the same with the virtual world. You are in one world but pretending to be in another world, you can't touch things or smell things within it. In my opinion its not real its something that we created. The moon and the west are things that are here within our world, we didn't create them so we can create lives within them, we explore them so we can create lives within them, they are things that were already here. Why should we create more spaces to explore, when we can just explore the spaces already created? I agree missy that we should let people do what they want to do, but is a bunch of people in our society spending their lives in front of a computer screen productive, to our society? What if practically all of us decided to explore the "virtual" world? Who will be the productive ones? We could all go live on the moon and function, we could all live in the west and function but we all can't live in the virtual world, because we can't physically put ourselves within it, we are stuck on the outside of the world pretending to be inside whether people like it or not. This is why I feel that the virtual world is not something we should try and endorse as the "new frontier."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Missy. I think if people weren't so quick to judge, gamers wouldn't feel like they have to play virtual games in order to escape their lives or to not be judged. I think that's why some gamers feel that online gaming is "liberating" and "freeing." The fact that they can be themselves and be open to other people even if its through the computer through a character it makes them feel better about themselves. If sitting in front of the computer playing these games is fun then that's them. Who are we to judge. I just think its a problem when they begin to believe in the game and lose sight of reality. Its okay playing the game but once you get sucked in that's when the problem starts.
ReplyDeleteI got so caught up in that lecture you posted, that I forgot to leave a comment thanking you for pointing it out! Good stuff!
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