(no subject)

[dewinged]

A thought of some messages that popped up on the mailing list for one of my games last night.

Despite the illusion, locking oneself in a room for hours and hours on end and dealing with people exclusively through online text is in
no way a substitute for good, healthy [and REAL] social interaction. It's dangerous to try to indoctrinate a child with this incorrect and misguided outlook. Humans are not meant to be veal stock, and veal is still veal even if you place an interactive monitor in front of them in the cold darkness so that they may communicate with other veal calves.

(sent in response to a third mailing list member, after discussing Star Wars: Galaxies for about 40 messages straight, and it's a mailing list for a D&D game we're in.)



(Note: John is our GM, and Rod's cousin.)

Thanks for sharing your view Rod, but that is all it is. Who are you
to deem that it is incorrect and misguided? Like it or not much of
todays society is going this way. Sony currently has a million
people playing EQ and is about half way there with SWG, never mind
there other games. Though we all know the line if a million people
jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge would you do it too?


Online games are extremely cheap forms of entertainment. As the rich
get richer and the poor get poor it will become more common place. A
night on the town can cost $100. Which is food money for many, when
one can get a months entertainment for the price of a connection and
$13.

What is bad however, are people who sit around watching TV. There is
no interaction with others. And that is considered the American past
time. People do that everyday and yet they still live their lives.

I myself am very active though not in the way my family approves of
or recognizes. I am chairmen of the RPS, I voluneer my time each
week to entertain kids, and I entertain several groups of adults
monthly and bi-monthly. I also spend each Sunday taking my mother
out to eat often with other family members. All because I am not
into bar hoping, or the meat market clubs my family assumes there is
something wrong. I don't fit in their mold. Part of it has to do
with my work schedule, as getting home at 1 in the morning does not
leave the option to hang out with friends who have day jobs. I do
not live my life by what they expect me to do. I live my life how I
see fit.

A lot of people meet their future wife or husband in these online
games. I know about 6 couples myself. No it is not the traditional
method. That doesn't make it wrong.

As you can see I am more then tired of hearing my family condemn
this. They are being socially bias.

All because they jump of that bridge doesn't mean I have to as well.
People who go out to those bars have ended up alcholics, having kids
out of wed lock, losing their lisences, and even getting diseases.
Some even lose their houses. Tell me in what way are these people
the family can accept socially any better? I mean the family is
filled with them. We even lost a cousin to it, who I looked up to.



Okay, this gets me thinking, but it's a little too late this morning for me to hammer out all my thoughts just yet, since I need to go to work.

Comments

Ah, The Problem...

[razorsedge74.livejournal.com]

What you see here is the conflict inherent in defining what human interaction is. Some have cursed electronic means of socialization due to the fact it "isn't healthy" but the truth is we don't know for certain how healthy it is. It's new. Technology that allowed instantaneous communication over long distances hasn't been around much in the history of the world, especially one that allows for more than one-on-one conversation.

It could be said that by having to deal time online to maintain friendships, we're becoming as a people more withdrawn in face-to-face encounters, and perhaps this is why people don't seem to talk to their neighbors anymore.

What you're seeing is a feeling among some that whatever you're doing isn't healthy because it's not "real" human interaction. There is some truth to this. Lying about yourself online is much easier, and other things that go into conversation, like body language and nuances of the voice can be lost rather easily.

But at the same time the web makes it much easier for people to maintain contact despite differences, and much more inexpensively than a telephone will allow.

I suspect the human race will have to re-adjust the way it thinks about human interaction over the next couple decades, at least in nations where Internet communication and entertainment are high.

[blytheteach.livejournal.com]

i say do what you enjoy and tell anyone that doesn't like it to kiss your role-playing ass. :)

[blytheteach.livejournal.com]

by the way...barenaked ladies concert feb 19th continental arena...presale starts tomorrow 10 am...you want in?