Im sitting in front of my dorm room on the grass. Birds are chirping just a few feet away while bugs keep leaping into my face causing me to swat and bat at them periodically. What makes this better or more real than a virtual lawn or simply a virtual world. Well for starters there is just something about the feeling of grass on your skin and the wind bustling around you that you can't describe, it cannot be compared to anything in a virtual world. I feel as though these two activities serve two extremely different interests. The Internet and virtual worlds, primary purpose is for fun or entertainment. I don't feel in this moment sitting outside surrounded by nature I am having fun. I don't don't feel this is the point of the activity. Its not that Im not enjoying myself, the very act of being outside is relaxing and Im content but not many people I know choose to go sit and be alone with nature for the sake of having fun. However I do think it is something we should all do more. Being more in touch with the outside world, I feel allows us to slow down and appreciate our time more. Online, the main objective is for game advancement which breeds anxiety and competition. There is no competition to be found in the courtyard just outside Robins. However that is just my view on the situation. This first year seminar has taught me how to appreciate the other side to the argument. I can now understand better how other people feel when they choose the life style of a virtual world and the merits it brings. Being able to see both sides has made me even more confident in my decision and views in choosing nature and real life experiances over cyberspace. I am no longer ignorant in saying how can people spend hours online, I now know why and I now know that it is not the life style I want to lead. Not saying that its bad for all people its just not for me. I think it could have been interesting in the class to contrast more the difference in real life experiences and virtual experiences. We could have benefited from not only going online but also as a class seeing what it was like to be without technology. I think this final post exemplifys what I mean. I have learned to broaden my horizons and I now know what I dont want for the future and every chance I have to prevent that future of all encomppassing technology I will take. It has lead me to want to fight for the future I want for me and my future children and grandchildren and try to prevent our inevitable decline into a complete virtual world.
We would have spent more time in a virtual environment had Linden Lab not doubled fees for Second Life's educational customers. Then we'd have had a chance to compare that to being offline, completely, for a while.
ReplyDeleteI like the final post, and I'll answer your point that "not many people I know choose to go sit and be alone with nature for the sake of having fun."
It's a GREAT tragedy of our age, when Nature is quite imperiled by our ignorance. There's even a name for the problem, "nature deficit disorder," from the wonderful book Last Child in the Woods.
I think parents of a smarter generation in the near future will again let children just play outside, skinned knees, poison ivy, and all. We'd all be better for it.