- Youtube
- Blogspot
- MSN
- Google etc
It's funny because sometimes I do all these things at once. Does it affect the way I can process things? I believe it does. When I think about it more, I realise that when I am studying, I can't seem to only have one page open, I have two or more pages open. I believe I can sit there and read something and also talk to Kerri on Msn and also be listening to music when I am studying. However I don't believe that I can actively do all these things well when I am doing them all at once.
I find that if I am watching something everything else is stuck on the screen behind - I find I have to pause the screen to be able to talk to people on Msn. Also the fact that my conversations on msn tend to go a little slower as I am always doing something else at the same time.
What scares me about the internet and gaming and virtual world is that people can get so addicted to it. As I watched this video, I discovered that I was frightened by the people who practically live in the cyber nation. In Korea they need Cyber Addiction Camps to help combat the growing number of people constantly jacked into the internet, into games. Conversation with that person changes, they sometimes forget to eat or drink and can be jacked into these worlds for days without a break. I mean how can that be healthy? And is this where we are headed? Do we know where the line is anymore?
There are some people who are so intuned with the virtual world that they don't know how to live without it. A vacation is no longer a vacation because we can still have access to everything that is happening back home. We have internet on our phones, there are internet cafes pretty much everywhere now. I mean how do we escape from this really? Do we go to countries that aren't so updated to the cyber world. Is it possible to be able to live without it? Can we survive without knowing everything little thing going on in the world at every single minute of the day?
As I watched this video, I started to think about how people interact now. So many people live in virtual realities, and have sometimes never met. I have noticed this with myself in one aspect. Kerri is one of my bestfriends, it feels as those I see her everyday. But I don't. In the almost two years that I have known her, I have met her face to face a total of two meetings. She knows things about me and I her that it's weird that we haven't known each other longer or that we don't live nearer to each other. I mean do we feel more freedom when talking to someone over the internet? Are we more ourselves when we don't really have to connect with these people? In games and virtual realities such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, people connect to other people, they talk and help each other out, and in some cases these virtual friends know us better than friends we live close by to, who we see all the time. How is that true? That we can share such an intense connection with someone we have barely met? Is it because we've never met? Or is that we know that they may never see the real me? Is it so easy to form an intense bond with someone, because over the internet, we can be whoever we want to be? Because, lets be honest everyone is thinking the same way. Nobody is going to judge you, because nobody sees you in real life, nobody really knows who you are.
When we meet people for the first time, we always shield ourselves. We never give away everything because we're afraid of rejection, we're afraid of ridicule. Let's face it, we're not going to get that over the internet. It's like a nerd's dream of having lots of friends. It's a way for outsiders in high school to feel like insiders. Is it really a way for us to feel less alone when that's all we are?
I wonder how I would cope if all this were taken away from me. I mean I can connect and find out about how my friends are going in their life by things like facebook and blogging. I find that I have such a busy life that using these things helps me be connected to my friends, helps me still know what is going on in their life even when I don't see them. And I wonder whether this is helping me distance myself from my friends? Whether I need to see my friends at all to still know what is happening in their lives.
It isn't any wonder why people use robots in movies as a source of something scary. Because in a way it is. I mean as we become more immersed in technonlogy, do we ourselves become more technologically advanced or are we just robots and can no longer connect with people without technology?
After giving your blog some thought...I must say, that it's definetely something that's been in the back of my mind at times. I mean, I talk to Kerri pretty much daily either via email or text and it does feel like she's sitting right there talking about whatever to me. Therefore I don't feel so distant from her. But with friends here...mainly you, there's something different about talking to you online or even texting than that is seeing eachother face-to-face. I figure it's because we've been friends for so long and like close to 100% of it is built on having such a close interaction all these years. In regards to the net/technology I think it can be a good tool when used appropriately and I am conscience of not getting caught up and ultimatelt living in a "cyber world" but I think for some people who are lonely or feel outcasted socially, they attach themselves to technology to feel closer to the world and that's ok that tech has allowed them to feel more accepted...but you're right, there is a line. And it's easy to cross it if you lose yourself, your identity in the real world.
ReplyDeleteSomehow things like MSN give people the confidence to say more, or to be more honest...but the danger is misunderstanding and it's something I stay aware of.
And finally, I do realise the irony of me commenting here rather than saying these words to you directly...I like to think if I had of told you face-to-face, I would have said this in more or less the same words anyway. <3
I feel the same way. I feel we talk more face to face or over the phone rather than on msn or anything. I think because we knew each other before cyber talking become so dependent in society.
ReplyDeleteI also realise the irony of watching this video online and also discussing it online as well. I mean I have discussed this issue with Nick physically. But there is something to be said about being worried about technonlogy taking over and then discussing in a technologically cased forum. But oh well, we can be hypocrits if we want to.
I say we can used this technology, just as long as we don't allow ourselves to be taken over by it.
Haha, irony is such a...hypocritical thing but we are humans afterall. So we aren't perfect of course. I feel safe knowing I haven't personally become caught up in this cyber world however I would feel lost without it. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI like to think it ENHANCES our lives and allows us to have better contact with people who may otherwise be uncontactable.
That all said, let's get back to our lives huh? :) I think we both know where the line is. :)
I think its really easy to get sucked into a virtual world, and I admit I'm addicted to the internet. I don't like not having it around even if I'm not using it. I could be sitting on my bed sketching, but if my internet is having the shits and doesn't work i'd totally be off game all day. I just like having the knowledge of knowing everything is at my finger tips. If i want to know something I can.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do feel like I see you more than I do... and it's weird thinking we've only met each other like twice. It's crazy considering how well we get along. I also think its easier to open up to someone you don't see every day because you don't need to see that look they give you when you tell them something and they feel bad for you. You don't have to really worry about what it is they are thinking about you, because they are soo far away. I also find it easier to have conversation via writing because it gives you a second to think about what you want to say and word it right, because we all know my brain and mouth don't sink up and I talk a lot of shit :P
I think the other plus of technology is you can multi task. I think life has a way of bombarding us with a million things and we need to do everything, and sometimes there's just not enough time. So I love talking to you while writing an assignment because I feel i'm doing two things at once, making time later for other things ( not that there is much other things!!)
Ahh i love technology, without it we wouldn't have each other <3