sawsaw 3/3

During class, my group was given the section Narratives in Cyberspace to discuss. After listening to each group’s ideas I learned many new perspectives on this section. The first new concept I learned was how cyberspace is a dream world. It creates a false reality and allows us to be things we are not. Take for instant Guitar Hero. In this game people master the skill of guitar in Guitar Hero the game but aren't really master the guitar itself. For a short period of time they become a Rock Star and famous musician even though they can't actually play an instrument. Another idea I learned was the concept of immortalization. In cyberspace people never die. They become immortal. Even though their player may die they are never actually dying themselves. This allows people to escape death and promote feelings of power and immorality. They start to believe that they are the character and that no bad things will ever come to them. The biggest concept I learned from our group discussions was the idea of control. All cyberspaces boiled down to wanting control of our lives and destiny. In the game Second Life people are able to create a utopian world where they are in control of their lives. They are able to plan out their future and have control of whatever they want their “Virtual” world to look like. After analyzing these ideas I wondered how cyberspace and virtual worlds were impacting our own reality. If people are escaping real life and reality through computer games and new technology how are they going to be able to react to what is happening right now in their own lives. Will people start to believe that this “Virtual World” is really reality? Do people like their life in cyberspace better then their life in reality? How our society answers these questions will have an impact on our lives in the future and could dramatically impact our culture as a whole.