Turkle dwells on the idea that a child can give a computer the psychological abilities of a person, i.e. think or talk, but still consider it a machine. "These children who so effortlessly split consciousness and life are forerunners of a larger cultural movement." I know I am one of these kids, I started playing video games when I was 5 and haven't looked back, but why is this so groundbreaking? I guess no other generation has experienced the "computer age" like we have, but separating reality, or biological life, from virtual reality, or machines, does not take any effort at all. Maybe those from generations past just don't get it, much like my grandparents don't understand sarcasm and irony the way I do. In fact, intensive research has gone into the correlation of violent video games and violent acts in life. The classic example being that the kids in the Columbine shooting played Doom. It turns out, the correlation is non-existent. People playing violent video games, or video games of any type, easily separate fantasy from reality. The things that form our opinions and actions are peers and parents, not video games and movies. It must be our version of rock-and-roll; old people just don't get it.
On a separate note, why would anyone ever play a MUD? What an incredibly boring idea, I don't want to create the fantasy world, I want to react to the world and then have it react back at me. Linkin Logs and Legos have to be infinitely more fun than saying "news" to read a newspaper in a cramped closet with no lights on. (I don't know if anyone else caught that on page 241, but apparently the door knob is hard to find, but the newspaper is readily available). Maybe I'm just spoiled, but good god get a life…
You made me laugh a lot here! I really wanted to talk about Turkle's distinction between her generation and the kids of the video game era in class, but I guess we can't talk about everything. I agree with you on the matter of our generation not even considering the topic of life vs. consciousness. I did however, think it was really funny/ pretty weird how some of the kids thought the creatures from the computer were trying to/ could escape from their realm and take over other parts of life. Did you guys ever think that?? I did not--yet another example of people growing up on technology being able to dilineate between RL (real life) and VR (virtual reality).
Your Columbine comment made me want to re-watch Michael Moore's "Bowling for Coumbine" . . . maybe we could convince him to do a doccumentary on net neutrality. That would be hilarious.
Onto the MUD thing . . . the part that I am still dumbfounded by is how the heck did people playing MUDs (as written about by Turkle) get sooo emotionally invested in the outcomes of what happened to their on-screen personas?? I just don't understand how you could get upset over pretending to be a woman (even though you're a man in RL) and feeling depressed and really emotionally beat-up when some self-proclaimed guy in your MUD tells you you can't redecorate the bedroom with new virtual drapes. Hmmmm, maybe we had to be into MUDs to get it.
michael moore personifies everything wrong with the world.
When I was a kid I watched "Gula-Gula Island" and "Keenan and Kel" and the sister on K&K was on Gula-Gula Island and I always wanted to refer to her other character, which she never did. It really annoyed me back in the day. Thats kinda like the organots in SimEcosystem coming to life, kinda.
"I just don't understand how you could get upset over pretending to be a woman (even though you're a man in RL) and feeling depressed and really emotionally beat-up when some self-proclaimed guy in your MUD tells you you can't redecorate the bedroom with new virtual drapes. Hmmmm, maybe we had to be into MUDs to get it."
I think you nailed it right on the head, we have to experience it to even fathom what they are talking about. Besides, you can't redecorate a screen filled with words. Just say "I am going to redecorate" and redecorate.