Digital Nation Part 2

Even after watching the beginning, the rest of this film still shocked me. I had no idea that there were detox programs in Korea to help kids recover from video game addiction. It makes me wonder how this problem grew to such an extreme. I have never owned a video game in my life, but when I was growing up I had some friends who did. When I went to their houses, I liked playing them because that was the only time I could. However, when I was given the choice to play Spyro or go run around outside, I would much rather be riding a bike or playing in the pool. Maybe when it comes to choosing between a virtual world and the real world, it comes back to the values that were instilled in us when we were young. My parents were strict about not having any video gaming in the house. The interesting thing is that it never really bothered me.

Virtual war really struck a chord with me. Several people I grew up with went into the military after high school; some even lost their lives fighting in the War Against Terror. Learning about the new idea of remote-control war really upset me. Initially, you think: what could be better than sending a drone into Afghanistan to wipe out a terrorist meeting and then going home to see your family that same day? It sounds like the best of both worlds. But I can't imagine how this is affecting the emotional and mental state of the soldiers who take part in remote-control war. As emotional as it is for someone to go fight in a war overseas, I would think that it's better to be completely immersed in the war. For example, when a soldier is in Iraq, he or she is constantly around the Iraqi people, thinking about the war, talking about the war, preparing for attacks, etc. The brain of someone who experiences this is in a different mode than of someone who is with his or her family and feels love and compassion. These emotions are dangerous if mixed with war. What happens if a soldier has a fight with his wife one morning and then goes to his post and starts sending out drones? Would this affect his performance?

Personally, this apparent addiction to digital technology disgusts me. What happened to experiencing real life that made it so unbearable? So many kids are now incapable of taking part in physical activities because their eyes are glued to a computer screen. Soldiers are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder because their mental state is constantly being switched. 'Video game addiction' became an actual term. And there are recovery centers to detox from it! I find it sad that people who have become obsessed with technology are missing out on the real joys of life. Meeting the love of your life is one thing, but meeting him or her through World of Warcraft is another. What happened to conversation and emotion and real connections? It seems to me that our emotions have become superficial and we are slowly losing right of what real human interaction is. What scares me the most is thinking about where we are headed in the future.