While watching the "Second Skin" documentary clips, I sat in awe at the severity of these peoples' video game addictions. I never knew that some people were in that deep...maybe too deep. The part of the video that sparked my interest was about Dan from Philadelphia. Dan stated that he had a thriving business until he purchased World of Warcraft. He started to play the game 12-14 hours a day. Because of constantly playing this game, he lost his job, friends, a good body, etc. To me, losing your job over a video game is rediculous. In a way though, I am starting to think that maybe video game addiction could actually be considered an illness. The video quotes, "These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence... realms that will one day be preferred to Earth." - Edward Castronova, Synthetic Worlds. People are actually making their minds believe that the video game world they are participating in is a world they can actually kind of "live" in.
I feel as though some people just strive to be accepted in life. People are always judged as "cool, weird, pretty, ugly", etc...but what really makes someone "weird" or "pretty" or "ugly"? We all have different perceptions of these words. I think that out casted individuals feel better "pretending" because then they are accepted no matter what they look like or what they think. Playing video games is their outlet to actually be themselves and to not be judged by other people. It kind of shows how judgmental our world really is when people would rather be living in a fantasy land than the real world.
In Culture Jam, a quote that struck me was on page 71. Kalle Lasn says, " We, the people, have lost control." I think that you can take this quote many different ways. In a way, we have lost control in that corporations are now having more power than we do. "We've spent so much time bowed down in deference, we've forgotten hot to stand up straight." There are many things that we cannot control. The mind is a powerful tool, and once the right person knows how to manipulate it, we are in big trouble.
Our world is full of mass media, from television to computers to newspapers. What would we do without them?? I've always wondered that question. In all honesty, what would the world be like without cell phones or papers or satellites. It would definitely be interesting since it would be completely different than what we are accustomed to.
The following video has no audio but it definitely says a lot:
i also was really intrigued by Dan's story. I found it so insane that he could completely devote his time to a game instead of his real life. It made me feel awful for him and I can only imagine how tough recovering must be. I definitely agree that we are losing control, and the movie proved it in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteIt seems insane that people can lead a "Dan-like" existence. But the fact that millions do causes us to pause and ask the question, why? What compels these individuals. Whether your "drug of choice" is WOW, Xbox, your Ipod, or Facebook, many of us are stumbling around in a state of techno-zombieism. Why?
ReplyDeleteThe story of Dan was quite disturbing seeing as how he had his own business, a good relationship, and a place to call home. Losing all of those things because of online gaming must have been rough and embarrassing. I was happy to see he finally came to realization with the fact that he was 36 and needed to pick himself up from rock bottom and remake a life for himself. It was unfortunate though that his nephew fell into the obsession he once possessed.
ReplyDeleteI think Dan wants to believe he did it all alone, but Liz Woolley from the Harrisburg Online Gaming Anonymous group really did help him. Someone who experiences tragedy firsthand due to the consequences of online gaming, I feel, really knows how it affects a person. Whether he is grateful or not, I believe she opened his eyes.
I really liked your paragraph on judgement. You talked about how what makes someone "weird" or "pretty" or "ugly", which is a topic that has always been an interest of mine. A lot of me believes that we get too caught up in believing what we THINK we should believe and think rather than forming our own opinions on things. For example, I feel like guys feel pressured these days to show up with the "hottest" girl to show off to their group of guy friends. In reality though, what they may think is attractive or "pretty" may be different from what his group of friends thinks. However, unwilling to get made fun of, it's likely that the guy bringing the girl would rather bring one that his group of friends found attractive over the girl that he personally found more attractive. It has to do with what you said about people striving for acceptance. Whatever it takes, we'll do it. In this example, it meant choosing the girl that EVERYONE would find attractive over your personal preference. I definitely think it's pretty fair to say we have "lost control", as put my Lasn. I mean, here's just another example of it! In your words, it's allowing other people "manipulate" our own mind, which, as you mentioned, is a big problem!
ReplyDeleteI think you are absolutely correct when asking the question "what would we do without it." Because MANY people RELY on these games and all of this technology! To like something and think something is fun to do is one thing, but it turns into an illness when you begin to rely on it. I agree that we should start diagnosing people with video game addiction. Addiction is something that you go through withdraw when it is taken from you. Children and young teenagers are going through withdraw when these games are taken away for merely hours while they HAVE to go to school! I think we are "losing control" of the younger generations and the gap between children and adults is growing to a point where children are looking for alternate worlds where people will "understand" them.. it is not a good thing!
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