CHAPTER 11 Reduction
and BETRAYAL and Chapter 12 True Confessions.
Galina
Men
learning to move as women, Women discussing depression, and software engineers
attempting to gain a second life what is this description of? It seems like this is the description of a
science fiction adventure but it is not it is today and todays virtual
reality. I absolutely am in awe of the
people who are creating avatars. What is the effect of the Avatars and Second
life? Are we becoming a society who
values fantasy instead of reality or are we simply a resourceful society who
have found creative outlets for our inventiveness? First, there is much to admire in living
through an avatar. For individuals who
have lost limbs or have a devastating experience it gives them an opportunity
to work through trauma as another individual.
I see the psychological advantages of the individual who had lost her
leg practicing by acting through her avatar.
I also see the psychological advantages of the person who is getting
over a traumatic event using avatars to do it. However there are other areas of
the Second Life trend that are a little scary.
For example: I see the
psychological advantages but I also see the Psychological pit falls. The book mentions that virtual reality games
and internet games can be addictive. It
states that people become so involved in their virtual lives that they ignore
their real lives. I also see that many
psychological disorders are caused from an individual’s inability to separate
fact from fantasy. It seems that
inventing an avatar to live in a virtual reality almost encourages a blur
between fact and fantasy.
It would be
wonderful to be able to sit all day and interact in a world where the
participant choses and has total control over their environment and life. The problem is if you are unable to interact
in the real world it will not be too long before the internet is turned off and
fantasy is turned into cruel, real, reality.
Most of us are addicted to technology in one way or the other. Very few of us feel comfortable leaving our
cell phones at home or not checking to see if we have a text message for
several hours but I would hope that those of us who are gamers are still able
to operate in reality
As
concerned as I am about creating a virtual world and living in it, I am even
more concerned about the true confession website. There is no such thing as privacy on the web
site. If the people who are putting
their secrets on line think that they are anonymous. If it is not enough that you might be busted
for your deepest secret there is a possibility that someone may share the same
secret. An immediate bond can be formed
as the book suggests and the person who has done something immoral, illegal, or
just plain mean all of a sudden feels better.
I am not so sure this is a good thing.
We all do things we are ashamed of but if sharing that shame makes us
feel better what is to keep the secret holder from becoming desensitized and
repeating the offense. Most of us need
to talk about our sins. In my opinion
that is why there are priests. All of us
need to forgive ourselves for their wrongs but this requires acceptance of
guilt and the ability to change our actions.
From what I read in Chapter 12 it seems like the true confessions web
site helps us rationalize our deeds not change them.
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