Has our relience on technology become to much of a good thing?

Don't get me wrong, I love my computer, Internet and on demand TV. I just remember reading many Sci-Fi stories about people becoming so much a part of technology that they lost their connection to humanity. In one story people eventually lived in pods, attached to feeding tubes, the computer attached to their brains and they live their lives cocooned away from the world. They would work, play and socialize all through the net. Everything was automated. People would show images that represented them, not their own faces. They would be just a part of the system living their lives trapped in it and never know it.

It seems like a far fetched scenario, people removing themselves from physical contact with other people, and even from physical contact from the world. Yet I can see the potential of this type of "withdrawal" already starting.

People don't actually need to leave their homes. I for one work from home. I email my work to my boss, I post it on the Internet, and I send my boss my time sheet by email. My pay is deposited into my bank. I can pay my bill online, everything without leaving my home. Food I can order anyway I like it. I can have meals delivered, or have grocery's delivered. Clothing, toys, everything I can order online and shipped to my home. Entertainment, I can watch any movie online, play games, just about anything I can think of I can do it in my home.

Socialization, we already do a lot of it online. We no longer need to go to a bar to meet someone "special". We can do that online at any social site. We form relationships with people all over the world sitting in front of our computers or now our game consols. We don't have to go out to hang out with our friends, we can chat on Facebook, Myspace or any number of social sites. We can email or MSN each other anytime. We post images that we like to represent us, sometimes it is our own image, but more often than not it is something we like. We can create avatars and become what we want in games, or in our contact with people online. We can create any type of life in games, or create an online life of what we want to be, now what we have. For now most of us use it as an extension of our lives, but for some it becomes their "alternate" life and possible their "real" life.

I don't see myself becoming one of the people who live their lives inside connected only by the Internet to the rest of the world. I like going out and doing things, swimming, shopping, and just having fun. For me playing a game where I am a scuba diver, a skier, golfing, or being a race car driver is not the same as actually going out there and doing it. For some people playing the game is more fun than doing things for real. I know people who don't want to do something real, staying inside playing a game is as real as it gets for them.

Entire generations are growing up spending more time online than outside or with people. There socializing is all done on line or over a gaming system. They are getting what they need that way. Heck, even some get their sexual needs met online. There is equipment available that allows people to have sex with each other, online, and not even be in the same country. Robots are being created to meet our needs. So it is possible we could eventually live physically isolated from others and still have all our needs met. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but eventually enough generations live within technology it may become a reality. I hope not. I just find it interesting how real life is running parallel to many Sci-Fi stories written in the 50's and 60's, long before the technology we have today.

How technological and medical advancements have changed our lives

I find it interesting to see how technological and medical advancements change people’s viewpoints. As computers became able to take over more tasks for us it was thought that they would take over our jobs, and they did. People thought that they would give us more leisure time, paperless offices and instead we spend more time on the computer and are flooded with paperwork. We tend to spend more time with our computers then our families.

As we became more comfortable with computers new sciences and technology became everyday. Then our science fiction became probable and possible. Now what was science fiction in the 70 and 80’s are now commonplace commodities. Every time I look around I see things people created in stories in the 50’s and 60’s being used as every day items. Now there are quite a few things have surpassed the original ideas. For today’s invertors or scientists the idea of teleportation devices, holograph rooms, cars that run on air or water, or devices that let the blind see are not some far off idea but something people are working on at different labs or have already been created.

It is nothing to have friends from all over the world that you chat with on the computer, not typing but actually talking face to face, play a game or party all online. At this point some doctors actually use robotics and computers to operate on someone. Now people are actually having chips imbedded in their bodies that hold their identity, and credit card info. We can JPS our pets using chips and now there is talk of trying to have ones made for our kids. Not a bad idea but does give life to some of the dooms day and big brother is watching you science fiction found in many books and movies.

People are always looking for the fountain of youth, be it in a bottle or surgery, but now it is possible to create organs so we can be young inside. It is possible for humans to extend our life span to indefinite depending on the science of organ growing and how long our minds can actually last. We have already created cyborgs, man blended with machine and robots, both as external skeletal units and limb attachments and internal with artificial harts.

The only thing holding us back from creating a world of our dreams is that not everyone has the same dreams.

Online RPG’s make changes in how people interact with each other

Years ago I remember reading in sci-fi stories about how technology would eventually cause people to become physically isolated from the rest of humanity. People would no longer have direct contact, but would only interact through some type of technology like computers and the Internet. At the time there were many different stories each with a different outcome and all were seen as being farfetched. The most common idea was that technology would remove the need to get out of our homes and see each other. That day is actually here, or at least the start of it is.

We can order food online, from restaurants and grocery stores. We can talk with friends and family on the phone or on our computers and even use web cams to see each other with out ever leaving our homes. There are many people working from home, online. With the advancements with online games such as EverQuest we can do all our socializing online. We can develop long lasting friendships and even romantic relationships with out ever dealing with each other face to face as it were. So our need to leave our homes is being slowly reduced. With some of the current trends in science the need to go to a Dr. may even be eliminated eventually. Currently some Dr.’s even operate long distance using special programs and equipment that allows them to operate on someone and not even be in the same time zone. And we all know how fast the sex industry is trying to develop the technology so that people will have equipment and programs that will let them have “sex” with each other online. There are even sex robots currently being created to fill that need if someone does not have a relationship.

It is quite easy to see that some of the predictions made by sci-fi authors in the 50 and 60 are not that far off from being possible. We are actively working toward creating the very technology that would make it possible. We have people working on creating or growing body parts to be used to extend our lives and ways to keep people healthy with out actually seeing a Doctor. We have a way to socialize with out leaving our homes. We are finding ways to work from home. The robot technology is already there and advancing rapidly. Robots can assist us, get our food for us, take care of us and even be our spouse (a lady has already married one on November 12 2007). Our drive for companionship, socialization, shelter, food and purpose can all be met with out us leaving our homes for the most part. It is a good thing for our species that for the most part we are not satisfied with having such a none physical contact with others. Though in the long run it may be a way for natural selection to assert itself. As the virtual worlds become harder to remove ourselves from, those who do not get caught in them will be the ones that have children, because they will actually have contact with real live people.

Move over drugs and gambling here comes a new addiction

Over the years it has been interesting to see the different changes in alternative reality addictions. There have always been people with addictive personalities who would have gambling, drugs, or eating disorders. Not much attention was paid to people who would escape reality through different mediums. At first it was books. These people would loose themselves in stories. They were not thought of as addicts; just people who like to read a lot. No real harm in that right. Well then we had people loose themselves in TV to the point where that was all they would do, sit and watch TV. Some people began to identify themselves with TV or Movie characters. Soon games were invented to accommodate people who wanted to play the different characters.

Some were board games; others were role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, some computer games and Live Action Role Playing like the Society of Creative Anachronism. The board games were ok, not that addictive. Games like Dungeons and Dragons let you control your world, who you were and what you did. This became an escape for many people. People were given a chance to be what they wanted to be, fit in with a group and socialize. This was very attractive to people, and people still meet today and play. The games were limited by when people could all get together and the time they could put into it, and how good the Dungeon Master was. Sure some people met every weekend and played for a day or two. However most people did not play quite that much as it was not so easy to accommodate everyone’s real life schedule.

The computer games like Heroes of Might and Magic were great. You could play by yourself anytime, or play with friends using the hot seat function and some of the games would let you play with others online. You had set games or campaigns to play or could create your own maps. This eliminated the need for Dungeon Masters, and you usually did not have to put as much work into your character development as it was usually programmed into the game. This made it much easer for the average person to play, you did not have to be interested in learning all the rules and character traits you needed when playing things like Dungeons and Dragons and you did not have to work around other people’s schedules. People would start a game and play for days, sometimes leaving for work only to come home to play some more. It was easy to see that people could be and did become addicted to playing. However people would often move from one game to another and it was the playing that was actually addictive.

There was some socializing possible with the computer games but not much. Some people drifted to things like the SCA (the Society of Creative Anachronism) and Vampire: The Masquerade, live action role playing groups where you could go to an event on a weekend, and leave your real life behind for a few hours. You would create a persona and live that and interact with others all “playing” the same game as you. You could be a knight, a lady, a Viking, a vampire, a fairy or any number of beings depending on the parameters of the group. For some people their personas became their lives and their real life became what they did to pay for it. It literally took over their lives. All their friends where in the group and all their social activities revolved around their persona. It let them have a life they liked better then the one they have.

Now comes the online massive multiplayer role playing (MMRPG) or fantasy games like EverQuest. You can play anytime and anyplace in the world. You can create an avatar to be anything with any type of personality and look. You can be who or what you want to be. As there is social interaction, you are playing with real people you can have friends and more. You have been handed the perfect world where you can be anything that you want to be and everything you are not in the real world. Why would you ever want to leave it? People are replacing their everyday life with ones they can create online. These online role playing games (RPG’s) can be harmful in that some people become so addicted they loose touch with reality. There have been studies done on online game addictions with some scary results. Some people have actually played themselves to death. There have been three well-documented deaths caused directly by exhaustion from playing games for long periods. In South Korea, Lee Seung Seop died after playing Starcraft for over 50 hours. In Jinzhou, China, Xu Yan died after playing online games for over 15 days during the Lunar New Year holiday and an unnamed 30 year-old died in Guangzhou, China after playing for 3 days straight. There is a great article by David Becker called “When games stop being fun” that tells about how addictive these games have become.

I would like to point out that some people tend to find a way to escape their lives and become addicted to that alternative reality, be it an online game or something else. If it was not EverQuest it would be something else. People will always find a way to escape to have something better then what they actually have and be the person they dream to be even if it is not real. I don’t place the blame on the people who create the online massive multiplayer role play or fantasy games, there has to be something to attract people back so it is designed to be addictive to a point. A person with an addictive personality will find something to be addicted to. It just seems that more and more people are loosing themselves in the different games. Though I am sure they see it more as finding themselves. There is nothing wrong with enjoying gaming or escaping reality for a bit as long as we have a balance between everyday life and escaping to the fantasy life.