Hi there to whoever is out there to share in the thoughts of Mummajules.
My subject is Communication and Technology and we are looking today at networks of which blogging is one. I will need to go through the process of understanding what kinds of thoughts are relevant for this site. I really have no idea what I am doing at this point but that is why I am here - to learn!!!!
Some thoughts I had in regards to the movie 'Second Life' that we watched in the lecture on Wednesday were:
The founder said that in the Virtual World (with no rules) we discover that people are basically good and yet the rest of the program appeared to reveal the opposite - sex, exploitation and out of control fantasies were talked about as though they become moral because they are not real, and further reasoning, that because they are not real, they're not hurting anyone.
But if 'we are what we think', then does acting things out in a virtual way prevent you emotionally, physically and socially from suffering the consequences of these actions any less than if they were real? eg: You may not experience STD's, but is being unfaithful in your mind, any less damaging than being unfaithful in reality?
You create a perfect you and then a perfect other, but will the dissonance between your reality and your fantasy, not affect your ability to relate to your real partner or experience satisfaction in that relationship? Will the virtual eventually result in a collision of contradictions between what you think you would like, and what you have? Aristotle has some insights that relate to the subject. Chapter 6, titled "The Soul and Psychology" paragraph 5 in particular got me thinking. Tell me what you think?
Maybe you could help me with some more thoughts that are raised for me.
What drives people to spend more time in the virtual world than in the real world?
And if upon investigation, these virtual worlds proved to be a negative influence on people's wellbeing, would it then be considered exploitation by the founders, to feed this kind of opportunity for fantasy to people, and justify it by suggesting that because it is not real it won't hurt you?
Consider this quote, "Pleasure is not to be identified with good" but Aristotle appears to have more to say in his chapter 7 on Ethics, where he makes some points about the nature of moral virtues and the ability to regulate our desires.
If you have anything to add either agreeing or opposing these thoughts? I would love to hear from you.
Until next time ...
Enjoy
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1 comment:
Interesting to say the least that viewing and even interacting in a virtual world leaves us unscarred. I am studying counselling and one of the major therapies used is modelling. Viewing a particular behaviour then mimicking the desired behaviour. This technique is used for a number of symptoms presented by clients. I am a firm believer in what has your attention has you, what you behold you become!
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