Virtual Denial: Stuck in the Digital Living Room.

This article was first drafted sitting in my backyard in the sun. I have quite a large backyard by New Yawk standards but my out of state friends asked me where the rest of it was.

The evolution of technology is a wonderful thing that affords us many luxuries in life. We can now communicate with family members from a distance, transfer information at the speed of light and even travel (only with our sight and mind at the moment). As I was reading a book (gasp) yesterday, I noted a term that sparked my interest describing our new technological standards as “the digital living room.” This new living space comes with every bell and whistle known to man. A free encyclopedia, movies, videos, music and constant flow of media entertainment that making these new digital living rooms difficult to leave. Inside these new state-of-the-art residences also comes with synthetic worlds where one can also reside in. A world within a world that as we know them as MMORPG‘s, containing countless communities with many races and class choices to shed our day to day skin in. During this past summer I was an angel, a devil, a 25^th century hi-tech sniper, a marine, an old priest and even a moon jumping, pirate shooting space cowboy. Yeee haaawww.

I can tell you that it was all very entertaining and I met a tremendous amount of people. It gets very hard sometimes to leave these “worlds of boundless creation.”

“Enchantment_to wholly enter into a dream another mind is weaving” – Tolkien 1966

This is where many people like me that have suffered from the effects of video game addiction. Please keep in mind that I am not pointing fingers at anyone, calling anyone an addict. I am simply sharing my experience, strength and hope to anyone who might be able with identify with me. Please try to identify , not compare. If you feel that you might show signs of video game addiction, that’s for you to decide, not me.

These digital living rooms have become widespread and statistically speaking every household in America will eventually own a desktop pc, laptop or a television to connect them to other digital living rooms.

In Eastern countries such as Singapore and South Korea residents have opened 24 hour gaming facilities called PC baangs open to anyone to come and eat, drink and socialize. Their primary functions is to provide gaming outlets and for anyone to connect with their own digital living room away from their real living room. Bravo technology!

In South Korea, where video game addiction is most prevalent the Korean government has tried to limit the availability of these PC Baangs’ by enforcing a time limit on them. They have also adopted a testing system called the “K scale” to determine if the gamer is starting to develop symptoms of video game addiction.

I have spoken to a few addiction rehabilitation experts on this and they feel that this may be an effective way to divert some gamers from overuse but might also be a waste of time. “If someone wants to get connected bad enough, they will find a way.” – Dr. Wasser MD

My problem specifically is how much time spent connected to my digital living room is healthy, and at what point is it unhealthy by describing it as I’m happy here and painting it with a touch of the real life brush?

To quote myself, “I like the internet better than TV. It tells me what I want to know, when I want to know it. A constant flow of information at my fingertips, information is power.” I am honest, never said I was perfect.

Speaking to my friend in California, who is a marine waiting to be deployed to Iraq is one thing. And I greatly enjoy these conversations, I would of course prefer “hangin out” with in person but the new technology makes this all possible and I appreciate it. However, spending time with some friends on the boardwalk in Long Beach is a totally different experience.

The sights, sounds and the mixture of people is a cornucopia of effects bombarding all of my senses at once. Not just the sight and sound of the new media in video games. That is all video games really are, an interactive media system created to entertain us, it’s really not that serious. Now that all my senses have been filled sight, sound, taste and even touch that I become intoxicated with the moment I am in, where I become truly happy. We are all different with different ways and means to make us happy. My angle is when too much of happytime diverts us from our primary purposes. That is when we (people who suffer from video game addiction) start sliding on the slope of ignorance is bliss that is where I get edgy and look for balance.

All the media in the world is great, but seeing an old friend who doesn’t have a digital living room comes up to me with a smile and a warm hug really makes me happy. That is one of real life’s shining moments that seem to lose some of its luster coming out of the digital living room. I love people and love life; I am exactly how I am as digital frank as I am in real life. A fun loving, easy going, playful and honest person that just wants to have a good time and live a normal life in an abnormal world. If you start coming out with some boolsheet opinion I am going to let you know how I feel and show you the facts, information is power to me. Sometimes I don’t come across very smoothly with it, and then again, I am always looking for balance. Keep in mind; it’s about progress not perfection.

“Honesty without tactfulness is brutality” – common.

My conundrum is NOT “technology is the devil”, I laugh to myself and know that evolution is inevitable. And it’s that NOT “video games are bad”; at this moment they are a powerful media outlet and getting stronger day by day. I believe in balance and equilibrium, searching for a way to reside in the new digital living room and not neglecting the sprawling fields of real life.

For some of the “normal” folks, the ones who just get on play for a bit, write, podcast, stream video, download new games, speak with other about games and then know when to leave. It is easy for them to say “self control silly” and make it sound so easy. Meanwhile for some it’s not so simple; the ones that struggle with video game addiction, some that have crossed the line into unhealthy play. For some of those that have entered the digital living room and don’t know when to leave can be very incapacitating, what are their choices?

Last time I checked being incapacitated is a disability; and addiction is viewed as a disability in the eyes of the American Government. You can receive benefits from Social Security if you are diagnosed as an alcoholic or a drug addict, why not a video game addict? Maybe society chooses to ignore the signs and the struggles, the stories and the scientific discovery. That is another can of worms in its entirety.

It’s easy to go with the grain, log into my digital living room and make believe it is all ok. I really wish I could, but the email I received today shows that I have helped one person. That made me happy. If anyone reads this who might be suffering from the effects of video game addiction, or a parent of a child who might be, please have hope.

And enjoy your day,

Frank