Where's the Love?

You know, there's just one thing that I can't help but think of as I see incidents of rage becoming more commonplace.

I won't go too deep into it right now (mainly because it's late and I'm having a hard time as it is trying to think clearly), but I think video games, computer games, and the internet in general are the root of the problem we're seeing here and now.

And no, I don't blame violence and gore in video games and computer games (though it certainly does not help), nor do I think video games, computer games, or the internet to be inherently evil. However, I do believe that as society becomes more and more integrated with these things, it allows us to get sucked into a cocoon of 'self', in which we can control everything we see, hear, experience, and so forth. When this happens, people begin to withdraw further and further away from real, true, face-to-face interaction that a CGI character or a webcam just can not provide. As this goes on, and becomes more and more a part of one's life, I believe that a person can become addicted to this level of control they now exert in their life. And as they become addicted to that level of control, anything they can't control quickly becomes frustrating.

Is there a solution to this? Yes. Throw all your computers, game consoles and associated hardware into a big pile and we'll have a humongous bonfire! Afterwards we'll shred all remnants of our technology, revert to the caves, and live in grog grog grog, bonk bonk ugg grog ugg bonk ugg...

 

NO, it's the Rap music! I'm sure of it. Either that or excessive cell phone usage.

 

Computer, video games, and the internet do present a societal challenge, however I don't think they're the root of this problem. Being a code monkey, i know a ton of people that could be certified as addicted to their computers. I'm probably one of them, but I'm in denial. Some of these individuals are social recluses that avoid pretty much any social interaction, and when they're forced into such situations they don't perform well. Others are some of the most social and well adjusted people i know.

The industrialization and technological advancement of the past 100 years or so has introduced a huge amount of additional stress on a persons every day life. Going back thousands of years, people were just animals - we stalked prey, ate berries, and made whoopee in trees. Then we became a little more sophisticated and created a social structure and tools - This started as extended family units and grew into nomadic tribes, etc. Even then, people would hurt and kill each other from rage. It's just human nature. Back 300 years ago, we were still a mostly agrarian society. You're average individual was concerned about working the farm and feeding their family, not much else. They knew everyone in the village, and that was about it. Fast forward to today, and everyone is involved in a dozen different organizations, can be reached by anyone at any time, and rarely gets that feeling of success and fulfillment people got from bringing in a good harvest. Being on time has become so important in our every day lives that people actually develop disorders about being late.

In short, a lot of the problems we have as a society can probably be traced back to some sort of stressor or series of stressors. Computers, video games, and the internet do play a small part in this, however it's only a very small part.

 

How far are we from busses and trains blowing up our commutters in the NYC, Chicago, San Fran, etc... public trans systems?

Gun control won't be helping that situation, then what?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Apr 23 2007, 06:56 AM) [snapback]428273[/snapback]</div>

Since you recognize that you are "probably one of them," you are by definition not in denial.