In today’s society many people exist under two names, one being their birth name, and the other being their online alias which tends to stay the same or similar from one thread to the next. Through the online alias you are no longer bound by the rules of a regular world. There is no censorship on the internet. There are no rules, and no one to govern them. People are emotionally and mentally free on the internet. Games such as World Of Warcraft allow people to transcend through just being able to say anything they would like, and they can actually start BEING someone else. The trouble with this is that we are slowly becoming a combination of both people. People start getting excited about going home to meet their online friends, to go to a virtual place, and battle other virtual humans online for ownership of the world. This excitement is beginning to spill over into our real lives. People are giving up being “John Doe” to become “Rexor the Demon Slayer”. This has got to have not only serious mental health risks aswell as also physical health risks as well.
People no longer desire to be themselves anymore. We all want to be the best, the most powerful, the richest, the most respected. Through things like online games and forums we all get a chance to do and say exactly what we want to. We can go kill monsters of epic proportions, we can argue a point and not be judged by education level or looks. We even have online dating services where we don’t even need to have physical contact with each other anymore.
It is even believed that with the introduction of virtual reality we may even have the ability to reach the “third state of consciousness” where the physical body is no longer needed. Just your thoughts and a world connected together through like-minded thoughts.
Personally, I find this a scary idea and I really hope we never get as far as a game where you FEEL like you’re in it. A person who already lacks the ability to keep a firm grasp on reality and separate the two from one another could end up permanently lost in a virtual world.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter.
- Are people loosing track of who they REALLY are?
- Is the acceptable “normal” behavior of a human being changing?
- Is virtual reality something that should be available to the wide spread public?
33 comments:
Hmm. Very intruiging! I like how you discuss the slow seperation of our internet selves, and our real selves. Nice article.
I Completely agree with you. I think that with the internet so available to everyone now, that people are beginning to loose sight of the real world. With virtual reality games such as World Of Warcraft, people create the person that they truly would like to be out in public. I think that in doing this, they're giving themselves somewhere else they can comfortably be themselves. However, people need to feel comfortable being themselves in public. Some of these people then get too involved in the game, and it begins to take over their lives. I think at some point, it needs to be stopped. The only question is when will someone step in? I truly think that eventually everyone will always just be attatched to the real worl through the internet.
Even relationships now-a-days are hardly personal. People often meet online, and build an emotional bond that way. But i notice the effect of the internet in relationships more, being in highschool. Often times couples that don't have the ability to drive anywhere, spend most of their time talking to each other online. They don't talk on the phone anymore, it's always online. Even when ending the relationship it's so impersonal now! Many people descide to break up with their partners over msn or text messages! It's getting ridiculous!
I think the internet and virtual realiy is taking over our lives, and we desperately need it to be stopped!
Wow...that's getting pretty Sci-Fi...which works because you're totally right. I mean, I know a guy who spends 14 hours a day playing World of Warcraft... it's just silly. But i think it might be pretty cool to be in a virtual world...(but that's just me)
Very interesting article. I definitely think Online video games, and even the internet in general are changing the way millions of people interact. For instance, this very blog is a notable example. In the past, topics such as this (ie any major trend in communication, entertainment or otherwise) would be topics of discussion, that is, face to face conversations between two or more people. With today's society focussed so much on the internet, it appears that one of the only ways to have one's opinion heard or ideas acknowledged is to post it/them on the internet. What a scary notion! It appears that the art of conversation is a dying one. Or perhaps, it can be interpreted as evolution. Unfortunately this evolution is having a negative effect on the youth of today, who rather than actively playing sports outside with their friends are playing World of Warcraft with complete strangers and becoming part of the ever-present obesity pandemic. Sure, the internet and online games are great in the sense that they can create a fantastic alternate reality, but they are making us forget about the reality in which we all currently live, and that is the one which is actually important.
I completly agree, that ppl are taking the online games to serious.
But i can see the point of the person that gets into the online world, it makes an escape for the hardness of the days and makes a stress relief for many. Its when it takes over that the problem is started, and as one person has said people have to relax in real world and be themselves
i think it's pretty obvious, there's no such replacement for the real deal, if u cant feel it, see it, or smell it then whats the point of living it?? i say this to "LIFE". certain things like religion are obviously an exception, but living your real life through a monitor is a sad way to live, people need to be who they are, because who they are is who they were meant to be. who cares if society doesnt except them. fuck the virtual reality and get your ass outside and meet REAL ppl.7
I find this topic very interesting and I agree with what your saying. I think people are hiding behind the the computer screnes. I like how you discuss the way internet and reality is slowly becoming one.
I think the article brings valid points. Im 20 and i remember the furthest i ever when with a game was mario and said that i would love to have fire balls shoot out my fist, but now a running joke among some groups is that we can be level 12 wizards and cast lightning on you. I think reality and the virtual world are begining to become more and more closely related. Im not sure if its a bad thing or a good thing, however i must admit it deos seem unusuall that a 23 year old will walk arround braggin that he faought a dragon while playing an online game for 13 hours straight. Im all for to each there own but theres a limit. I think the gaming comunity as well as the comunity at large need to adress the issu that not everything has a rest button, if you get hit by a car in the real world there is no re-spawn, and you wont be able to travel back to your body as a ghost.
You pose a very interesting and in many ways, challenging question. Although I believe completely in the internet and it's ability to connect people from ALL over the world; relay information from ALL over the world; and provide information to those ALL over the world, it does provide a completely new world to get lost in. We have yet to completely discover the full potential our own world and the people in it, so why create a new one with new people. This component of the internet it the one I disagree with the most. The fact that people can not live in the world they were created in, provides me with an extreme sense of confusion. Personally it will be a sad day when life is entirely dependant on technology and when untimately we are living in a virtual reality.
i totally agree with the article... its insane! internet is taking over liek everyone .. lmao im always on the computer too like probably a good 6hours a day..its a bad habit, we should find an other way to interact with others. yeah well good artcile keep the goood work up man!!! see yeah
I dont think its that people are loosing track of who they really are, they are just able to be someone different if they choose to be, or more themselves. I mean I know that when I, myself am online, I am more myself. I dont worry about things as much, what people will think or say back to me. I feel so much more comfortable saying things online than I would to a persons face.
What you talked about is very true. It is so easy to just pretend you are someone else and the other person would have no idea who you are. Nice job on the article!
Really interesting food for thought.
I don't believe people are losing track of who they really are, but rather their online self may become a part of their real identity. I guess it depends how easily one switches between real and virtual self.
I think acceptable behaviour of a human being is not changing in real life for the time being, but in the virtual world the acceptable behaviour is getting the chance to define itself.
And yes, virtual reality should be available to the wide spread public should some corporation be willing to support it, and it is probably going to dominate the lives of a small portion of the population just like television has over the last 50 years. First came the couch potato, now comes the keyboard and mouse potato.
-Antony
Darwin would laugh at you. The only way to survive is to adapt, and thus evolve. As humans the evolutionary trait that gave us superiority over the rest of the animal kingdom is our mind. Part of the evolution was developing a cerebral cortex over top of the basic neurological system. The cerebral cortex is (or so is my understanding) the rational part of the brain... if you were a basic animal, would you be afraid of developing rationalized thought?
Think about pollution, starvation, over population and the rate at which we go through our natural resources. Throw in global warming and our apparent lack of ability to deal with these issues... It's almost like the all mighty has already drawn the time line. My mother always said "i gave you life, and I can take it away" If one being created us, then they have programmed us to take it away. The only way to survive as a species is to find a way to avoid the inevitable. Unfortunately since we as a planet cannot escape war, disease, and self destruction, the only way we can survive is to transcend to the third level of consciousness.. we must evolve to survive. If the internet is, as you say, a prelude to the third level of consciousness, then it is indeed the prelude to our own self preservation... your fear of evolution goes right along with the conversation we had about our readiness to accept our deaths just before I moved.
As for the idea of living dual lives, one real, one virtual.. giving people somewhere they can feel free to express themselves is an important part of their self identification. With the ever growing population we will naturally bread a larger herd of bullies. More bullies means more children growing up with low self esteem. Giving them somewhere to be free, and to fight back (without actually hurting anyone) gives them the ability to learn who they really are. I.E. do you know who Ben Hajnik would be if there had never been Tweak the Grand Master Miner?
I dont think people are losing touch with who they really are, but rather, finding an "acceptable" personal release for themselves. Few people would dare walk up to an individual of power and insult or assult them, however, despite their burning desire to do so, which are more than reflected when they log into WoW and get off on a GM's face because they disagree with a comment. Although it may result in an account ban, it means little, as creating a new one is far more siple than trying o explain to a judge why you don't belong in prison.
I would also like to bring to light another MMORPG that seems to be popular right now (not to the same degree as Wow, but more interesting regarding this subject). Second Life. Online world where you can get a job, make money, buy some realestate and do everything you can do in the real world (although the sex may not be quite the same). This has over 1 million active users who spend real money to buy in game money (just under $1 mil. USD per day [data taken from the website]).
Virtual reality should be no more restricted than real life. If people are unable to distinguish between the two, although they may have issues, it was their decision to begin their second life and if they want to off themselves because they were beaten by a swarm of orcs who like to pillage helpless travellers, that's their problem.
Everything you do in your second life reflects what you would or would want to do in your real one. Your new persona gives you a mask with which you need not hide who you are.
Hey this is Shaylyn,
I think that the internet is a really scary place. We can say and become who ever we want without other people knowing. Everyone knows about sexual predators on the internet and things like that but just think that it will never happen to them...this scares me because you could be talking to some creepy guy who 'wants to meet you' and you think nothing of it. We are definitely loosing track of ourselves because we can become who ever we want on the internet maybe someone has had a hard life and wants to change, so they create this completely different person, who is really not them. We are definitely loosing track of the real world too because we can find anything and everything on the internet. Its like taking the easy way out of life. We can just sit on the computer and have everything we want infront of us, including groceries, vacations, banking. We never really have to leave our houses and go out into society because everything is so easily accessed. Anyways I think this whole thing is scary and everyone should know about it.
Well, this is an interesting idea. You have already fixed the grammar errors etc that I noticed the first time I read your blog. I do agree that there is a completely ungoverned Online or Virtual world where people can exist. Is there risk in this? I believe there is, especially with younger people, who tend to have personalities that are not as well established.
I think it is possible for a person to lose themselves in their virtual world. I don't think this will become the norm, however. There will always be rare cases of someone losing themselves to their alternate alias, but mostly people will continue to live in the 'normal' world.
Will their alternate reality affect them in their normal world? Yes, it will, but I am hopeful that there are times that being “Rexor the Demon Slayer” might actually help someone in the real world.
Maybe Rexor is actually a great Cobol progarmmer. lol
- Bill
humm.. very interesting. i agree with it very much. online games and alt personalities on the net are starting to become a problem for some people. some people cant even concentrate on their work or school because well those games and alt persona's are interfering with their lives and their minds i know many a couple who got divorced because of games and msn.
i think what you wrote can apply to everyone who uses the internet for games and chatting. good job on this article.
I'd love to know what George Herbert Mead would think of this! He professed that no individual self existed outside of society, yet here we are sitting alone at our computers everyday playing "community" games & interacting in online societies etc (so is this just a new form of our society?).
Society has been splitting away from community to more individualism way before the popularity of online computer addictions. I believe living your life online is just an extension of our loss of community and society that has been occuring ever since the manufacturing revolution.
And the loss of society & our connected-ness to each other has made our "pretend" online societies more important and therefore needed for some "lost" individuals.
"in moderation" should be key words here!
I can't recall the number of times I've met someone online (myspace, facebook, etc) and developed a relationship with their internet persona. You come to know this person with whatever sort of personality they choose to show. It can be a dangerous misconception if you're a vulnerable person. When you meet a person in the real world after knowing them only in the digital world, often times it's not what you expect at all.
Totally didn't expect sxxygirl_69 to be a baritone.
I find also that when you've had enough experience online, you can almost see through the digital persona. You have to keep in mind that people in the real world are also putting on a face most of the time. It's rare for someone to be completely honest. It's not often that someone is willing to bare themselves to the world in reality or online. So one way or the other, you have to develop an ability to see through the bullshit. It's all part of the game.
Everyone is bound to have a differing opinion on the topic, but one thing is for sure: things are different now. We're faced with a whole new era of communication, and as with anything, it comes with its positives and its negatives. I embrace it and I welcome others to make their own decisions.
-Dan
Yes I believe people are losing track of not really of who they are but of reality with today’s stresses and dead lines people are pushed to more extremes..Everything is at a fast pace..It’s all set forward no stopping.. people today are not letting themselves time to relax, calm down or go away.. and for that we a pushing the body and mind father then it wants to go.. it's scary to think we actually fell upon something like not needing a body....but in some cases it might be a good thing..i feel.to think we could take a patient in a coma and put them in a happy place without pain or suffering and without maybe causes brain damage in a long term. But then that leads to where God comes in. we weren't made to be truly separated. mind and body...well..for a long period of time...lol.. but to live in a game..i don't know, it would be like living in your dream... you wouldn't really know the difference.. Because in your dream you feel like you can touch, smell, and taste. And to me that’s not so bad. to live in a dream, to not have pain. it would be like heaven.
but we're all here for a purpose and everything is just a test to the next step in life. But it's sad that we'd rather push our selves to the breaking point then just breath.
Are people losing track of who they REALLY are?
Only the losers and nerds. That's putting it harshly, but at the same time, a lot of people are turning to online realms to escape their real lives and problems. You can literally have a second life online. That hot level 60 elf chick you've been hitting on may just be some really fugly creeper pedophile.
Is the acceptable “normal” behavior of a human being changing?
Somewhat, but I don't blame any of it on the internet. I blame it on there being far too many Paris Hiltons in this world. There's a whole rant I could get into, but I'll save you the trouble. haha
Is virtual reality something that should be available to the wide spread public?
I don't see any harm in releasing it. I'd much prefer somebody coming up to my avatar and shooting its head off than coming up to me personally and blowing my head off. I don't see any significant down-points to virtual reality, other than maybe a hike in laziness and obesity... and a huge hit to economics...
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