Week 7

Reading Sylvie's latest posting about Reflecting on Sacred Embodiment and Engagement Online was a very interesting look at the internal debate that many people probably go through when deciding to stay on a computer or go outside.

This struggle begs the question, are virtual worlds as fun as real worlds? In class Jacob was saying how from grade 7 to 10 (in school) he was practically addicted to the virtual world World of Warcraft (WOW). He said it even got the point where it affected his relationships where he would chose to play World Of Warcraft rather than be social with his friends or girlfriend. From grade 7-10 Jacob would have probably said that playing his character in his alternate world on WOW was more fun than the "real world".

Many people who participate in WOW or another online reality probably view them as fun, but is it really healthy to prioritize an online reality over real life? I remember a news report a couple of years ago about a teenage boy in China who had become so obsessed with WOW that he stayed up for some ridiculous ammount of time straight, completely forgetting to eat, the only thing he consumed was Redbulls to keep himself going and awake.

Long story short, the boy ended up dying of a heart attack in front of his computer screen after what I remeber could have been a week of not sleeping or eating. I would argue that that kind of an obsession with an online life is definitely not healthy. In this day and age it seems like humanity has every opportunity to overindulge. From alcohol to food, the internet has just become another vice where human beings have the opportunity to throw self restraint to the wind. Just as everything in life, the real world will only be fun if you put energy and work into it. Just as the boy in China put hundreds of hours into his online life, if the same effort would have been put into his real life, the outcome of the story above might have been completely different.