As far as
I know we have a kind of love hate relationship with life. It has amazing
highs, (birthdays, graduation, travelling, children, soul mates, peace), but
some confronting lows, (death, failure, work, disease, war, heart break,
loneliness). One of Mother Nature’s gifts to creatures in times of
stress or the ‘lows,’ is escapism. Dogs chase a ball, cats lick themselves,
monkeys swing and humans seek an alternative mental state. Some do drugs, some
sleep for 12 hours, some sex, some TV and some enter a virtual community. To
further the pleasure of escaping reality, they can be who they want and do what
they want. As I don’t have a ‘second life’, or ‘avatar’, I liken it to a lucid
dream where you are half awake and you can control your actions and behaviour.
Yes folks, I have slept with Jennifer Lawrence and Olivia Wilde. Those mornings
I woke and then immediately tried to sleep again to resume….no go! Well the
virtual community members just need to log on and they are back to the dream.
A
critical question here is, why dream, when you can make your dreams come true
in real life…MOST OF THE TIME! I have no chance with J. Lawrence. Also when
does this alternative life go from game to the real world? Sometimes I think
people don’t get enough happiness out of this world, and I see little difference
from a virtual world, then watching TV. In fact, you are being somewhat social
in these online realms, which may be a step up from TV. In saying this, if you
are looking for happiness, you probably won’t find it on a screen. Some
thinkers believe there is less hierarchy, elitism and judgement in these
worlds. Henry Jenkins has often talked
about fan culture and says it
“offers not so much an escape from reality as an alternative reality whose
values may be more humane and democratic than those held by mundane
society." He offers a positive portrayal of
this platform. Much like Howard Rheingold
who “yearns for a world in
which people are free as both users and consumers, where there is an "open
innovative commons," where people have the ability to create networks as
they see fit, and where people have the, "freedom to associate information
with places and things." But Rheingold’s visions of utopia tends not to
include the dangers of this alternate universe.
I will
not ramble on about addiction to these artificial worlds and the thousands of
hours wasted in a fantasy. Or the fact that a person with a lonely or sad life
can at least have some alternative in virtuality. But I feel somewhat apprehensive about our
lives getting sucked into technology when our real one is in such a mess. Plugging
into another world and ignoring or being detached from this one just exacerbates
the existing one. I mean this both individually and communally. An introvert
with intimacy issues will only avoid and increase those traits when offline.
And communally your social skills and awareness of societal issues will be
diluted. Philosopher Jean Baullirard
in referring to immediacy and transparency, states, “The ironic revenge of the system, he
claims, is that through the ability of technology to obtain--and
supersede--these goals, we have reached a catastrophic moment in which
"speaking" no longer has a place in the world’. he also says he “sees the hyper real world
of immediacy as a cold, desolate realm of communication and information.” Although Baullirard is speculating; I do
become fearful of an alternate universe. Already I have been witnessing a
scarcer sense of community and feel that people prefer screen to human, rather
than human to human. Naturally I do not blame it on games like Second Life, but
if these worlds get better, as this world gets worse, (which it is), then we
are left with one dying world and one unreal world. It seems like people are
picking the best of the worst.
When does
it stop being a game? The difference between a game and a virtual community member
in my opinion is virtual communities can affect your real life world. Also
games, even interactive ones, are based on quick response and little reflection
or rumination. Virtual communities can require tons of emotion, role play and
contemplation. Also games like second life can affect you financially and
psychologically. Financially, because you can earn and lose money,
psychologically, because you can form relationships where players have actually
got married literally. Tina Adelcino
talks of "the element of anonymity within virtual worlds that may
provide individuals with a safe and private arena to explore their identity.
However, anonymity also presents a problem for others who engage in virtual worlds,
and that problem is trust and virtual identities can be
quickly “self-defined rather than pre-ordained.”
Although we are few if not many years away from a conjoined life inside a second world, one thing should be contemplated. When the lights go out and the plug is pulled, will we remember how to be around each other, REALLY!!
One of the best South Park episodes on role-playing game World of Warcraft.
References
Nunes, M,
1995, Baudrillard in Hyperspace; Internet, Virtuality and Post-Modernity, http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/baud.cyber.html
Rheingold, H, The Virtual Community, http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/5.html
Wiscombe, S, Critical Commons, The Missing Piece of Rheingold’s Manifesto, http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/Simon/commentaries/the-missing-piece-of-rheingolds-manifesto
Adelcino, T, 2010, Psychology Today, Exploring Identity in the Virtual World-is that really you? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/curious-media/201004/exploring-identity-in-the-virtual-world-is-really-you
Images
1. https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTih8AFmIiu2Ti8i3UWgjXLXQjU6VcgD2ojK7CIx9cC8tbiwOHItA
2. http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/funnypics/addicted_to_computer_01.jpg
3. http://secondlife.com/whatis/avatar/hero.jpg
Video
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD2RwC4rZkU
That has to be the best South Park episode made to be honest.
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