Now you may be thinking: What does this have to do with video games? Well, it actually has a lot to do with them. Games, such as Madden and the 2K series, have become extremely popular among the young people of our generation. I find it interesting that many choose to play a virtual sport when they can just as easily play a "real sport." When I say a "real sport," I mean one with a real, physical ball or other object on real, physical ground, while breathing real, physical air and sweating real, physical sweat.
In this post, I am not making any sort of argument. I am just calling many to think: Why do many people today feel compelled to choose a virtual world over the real world? This is an interesting phenomenon that has no other occurrence at any other point in history. Granted video games are a development of the technology of today, but this still does not explain why many do not choose "real" approach to satisfying their desires.
I've wondered the same thing before - why people spend so much time in a virtual world. From my experience being raised in Mauritius on the other side of the planet, I can say that this is a very American thing, or at the very least is a phenomenon that is very culture-dependent. Back home, the majority of people don't own video games or have ever played them. Instead of filling up their spare time with FIFA or Madden, as many Americans do, they actually pick up the ball and play on whatever flat ground they can find.
ReplyDeleteThis culture-dependent phenomenon of almost living in a virtual world makes me feel that the Allegory of the Cave can't be applied as universally as we expect. Not all people are blind to the same things, but everyone is blind to at least something.
Perhaps by traveling and experiencing the lives of others, we can discover the truths of reality that are currently unknown to us.
Hey Nicholas I love the Madden games. However I don't think you can really compare The Republic and Video games without acknowledging their differences. When playing video games, most of the time people know the truth or have tried the truth, meaning they've played the sport. In the cave, these men are so afraid that they don't know reality until one escapes and finds out the truth. Video games are a choice and a whole different experience than the actual sport. I don't mean to say you can compare them, because you bring up a good point, but don't forget about the differences.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I do agree with Jeffery that there is a major difference in the reading about the cave and the game madden. People do in fact know that playing the video game is not real. I feel like people playing a video game is a different sort of entertainment than actually going outside and participating in one of these sports. For some it requires skills that they might not actually possess, energy that they do not want to invest, or maybe some dont even have people to play the sport with. I think that a video game actually mirrors the reality instead of them being ignorant of what is really going on like the cave.
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparison you made here. I upsets me that kids these days choose to play video games over real games. There is a very small window of your life when you can play competitive sports (assuming you are not a pro athlete) and they waste this time playing video games. I think this is mostly do to parents these days. They give their kids video games at a young age and they never know what else they can have. This is similar to the people in the cave who know no better. Youth these days are oblivious to how great exercise and real sports are, and they are missing out on a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an interesting post. There can be a number of reasons why people would play video games over the actual physical game. A couple include laziness, weather conditions, competitiveness of the game, and actions that you can do in the games that you might not be able to do in the real world. However, one thing remains constant. The video game players are not experiencing reality, yet they are just getting a false depiction of reality. This is definitely similar to the "Allegory of the Cave" because the prisoners, similar to the gamers, are not really experiencing the world. The prisoners are only getting a depiction of how the world should be. However, fighter-type games give them a sense of dreams. Gamers know that there is no way they can truly experience Call of Duty or Halo 4. So they turn to video games to fill there fantasies. I do have to agree with Jeffrey (great name) on this post. The gamers know that the video games aren't real, whereas the prisoners believe the false depiction of reality to be true.
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