Discussion: Real Life

[asterroc]

"Real life should take priority over the virtual, such as cellphones, social networking, and video games."

Discuss!

Comments

[sirroxton.livejournal.com]

Because of my own tendencies, when people raise issues like this, I wonder if they're dissatisfied with their efforts to rationalize a gut response. It's a great way to get a topic going, but it always feels funny, because in the back of your mind there's this powerful, visceral motivation that really just demands validation rather than a candid honest discussion. I'm speaking in the general case of course, and in my own case; I can't read your mind. :)

A real risk with virtual systems, I find, is that they are very good at providing rewards for minimal effort. This can modify your behavior in a way that subverts what you would otherwise name as your goals and priorities. LJ comments are a pull system; you get a nasty jackpot sensation when you hit the refresh key.

A lot of us have desk jobs. Leaving work, only to plop yourself in front of a computer again is probably unhealthy.

But yeah, I would posit that the bigger problem isn't that people's priorities are wrong, but that simple reward systems subvert their priorities.

Oh, and once you shift your priorities to feel better about your behavior, you've pretty much, well, lost.