I'm finding it difficult to write about these things. Postmodernism is so broad and expansive it's hard to really pin one thought down without another one fluttering in and giving its opinion. Maybe that's the point. Who knows.
There was one thing I wanted to mention. Anyone ever heard of the game Second Life? It scares the crap out of me because there are real people out there who basically live their entire lives in that game. They make a little person they can play as, have social interactions, buy and sell virtual real estate (using real money) and so on. In my curious gamer nerdy-ness I gave the thing a try.
The game itself barely even qualifies as a "game." It's not like EA's the Sims where you control a character that is unrelated to you and interacts with simulated people, nor is it anything like any MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) where your character has objectives to achieve for imagined points or simulated rewards. Second Life basically gives the users the capacity to create their own realities, and users will buy and sell things with real money in order to advance their character.
It's hard to really fully explain this monstrous thing, so here's the website. http://secondlife.com/
My question is, what's next? Thousands of people already devote their entire lives to this game. How long is it until we're all just walking simulations? Or are we all just simulations already? Ach. I think it's time I simulate myself some sleep.
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Yeah, i heard of this a while back when my brother's girlfriend was complaining that Second Life was all her ex wanted to do. Didn't want to leave the house anymore, would rather go shopping for pixels for a more successful version of herself. I mean, i can understand the appeal of this rather intense, virtual starting over (who hasn't wanted things differently) but to me, it seems like Second Life would make things worse. If you end up spending lots of money to make your (more) simulated life better- then firstly your (more) real life will suffer financially for it, and is being a rich, comfortable, popular person on your computer screen going to satisfy your feelings of inadequacy? i don't know. I don't think i'd say simulation has gone too far, as it's pretty much all there is anyway- but i will say that Second Life creeps me out just a bit.
Second Life is a creature of this age along the lines of games like The Sims. The idea that you can be someone else somewhere else is for some reason incredible attractive and addicting. I don't think that I need to cite that there are over 16 million people playing World of Warcraft, most obsessively. I guess Second Life takes it just a little further by actually having an economy based off of it's own form of currency that can be translated into real money. The thought that a simulated reality can have a healthier economy than our country scares the hell out of me. When they start to come around to plug you into the machines, you can count me out. I'll be getting a bunch of camping gear and a few thousand dollars worth of MRE's and then going to live in the mountains around Lake Tahoe. Anyone is welcome to come if they like.
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