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A
student was talking to me about her pet dog 'Popu'. From
our conversation I understood that she liked him very
much. As we kept on talking, she was telling me how much
she liked him and how much time she spends with him. She
told me that she takes him for a walk every day, feed
him with nice food and enjoy taking care of him. She
even takes him to dog beauty parlor for a haircut and to
have his nails trimmed! She was so obsessed with 'Popu'
that she always talked about him. She said that she even
brought him a ni ce little sweater with a reflector and
the story went on and on. After some days when I asked
how 'Popu' was doing, her eyes twinkled and she said
that he was doing fine. She explained to me how he likes
her cuddle and even made happy noises.
This 'Popu' story was going on for months until one day
I asked her if I could see her pampered dog. She said Oh
Yes! I will show him right now, walked straight in
switched on her laptop computer and said 'look…he
online!' I saw a cartoon dog sitting on the screen and
wagging its tail and licking the screen! That is when I
realized that 'Popu' was a virtual dog and all she was
talking to me was part of an online game! I was
literally stunned for a moment wondered how this kid had
moved out of the real world and was living in a utopia
of imagination. Sometime later I found out that she was
not alone…
I found out a group of young people literally living in
a virtual world. They have their own online 'avatars'
and have their own online personalities. They are
working, shopping, fighting, cheating, dating, marrying,
divorcing, having babies, raising kids, even dying… all
online! They spend good part of their time of their
online living. I was absolutely mesmerized by the
devotion and conviction these youngsters show for their
online life. I noticed that they are often confused not
able to distinguish what is real and what is virtual.
Some of them were more serious about their online life
than their real life… It was difficult for me to
understand how all these people have gone out of touch
with reality.
An apartment mate of my friend was so obsessed by online
games that he doesn't even bother to brush his teeth or
do his normal duties. He wakes up and starts playing
these online games and continues to do so even without
eating, let alone going to college. One can hear his
screams and laughs from his room. When asked he said
that he attends lectures whenever he feels like! I very
well remember a fellow research student spending one
whole year on computer games! Just a few days ago, a
South Korean couple was arrested for raising their
online child, neglecting their real three month old
child. They were so busy taking care of their online
child that their real child died of starvation! A
Japanese piano teacher's sudden divorce from her online
'husband' in a virtual game world made her so angry that
she logged on and killed his digital persona (Avatar),
according to police. She was arrested for illegally
accessing her 'husband's' computer! Another woman sought
divorce from her real husband after she found out he was
having a virtual affair and spent more time with that
online avatar! What madness!
Internet is a wonderful medium that can be used for
positive and constructive purposes but it is also filled
with materials that can carry us away from the reality.
This 'life' in the virtual utopia is just a mutilated
shadow of the reality. Many enter into these so called
'life like games' and place their 'avatars' online and
get entangled into one of the many messy online games.
Unknowingly they move away from the reality and lose all
touch with the real world. It also has to do with our
corrupted, sinful mind; we tend to live an empty 'life'
in the online drama! Those wicked deeds that we cannot
do in the real world because of legal or moral reasons,
we tend to play on these games. Once one achieves
whatever one wanted in these games, one is content,
happy and ecstatic. Is it real? I think that it is just
a false sense of accomplishment! Chasing after the wind…
It is wise to come out of these false 'realities' and
make some sense of the real world. If you are one of
those who spend all your waking hours on these games,
it's time that you review your lifestyle and give a
serious thought about it. Wake up and do useful things
in the real life as there are several challenges to be
faced. Channelize your energy, time and efforts on
things that are real and useful, rather than wasting
your precious lives on 'virtual reality' which is a
bubble of nothingness, a game. Accomplish real things in
the real world and live an upright and morally sound
life which is an act of worship unto God and a great
gift for the society.
Think about it!
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