Journal 8

The virtual world of technology. In Hall's piece, he is talking about how this "game" called Second Life was created and how to play it. Second Life is about the people that wanted a chance to restart something that most people never do; their lives. "There are no levels to gain or beat, there are no bosses to fight, no magic mushrooms or jump on or any fashion of linear structure one would normally associate with a computer game. The game is entirely what you make of it. You should think of Second Life as a universe in which you have the divine power to alter the world and yourself to whatever you desire." Hall starts off in the real world, but then turns into the Second Life world where everything is different and extreme. It is not only him though, there are people all over the world that are involved in this life. The most intense thing about the technology was how much time was spent on it to create this world. The little details of the people to the big details of the parties that were posted as little stars on the Second Life map. It was all mainly about sexual things, though. Strippers, lap dances, pornography; the world that no one exists in now and lives in technology. How an artist designed all of these things that people wanted is outstanding, yet in a way, crude. To think that someone would slave away for hours on end just to make a part of the body perfect and "anatomically correct" is unbelievable. There is also the money issue. "... paying real money for fake money just so I could buy something that would make my fake guy look like something out of a nightmare. I began to question the very nature of Second Life." The game is not all that bad, though. It is a way for people to escape their lives now and not have to deal with the pressures. They get to be whatever they want and get to do whatever they want. It is no way to live, of course, but an escape from a place called reality is always nice, sometimes.

Using technology for educational purposes is a different story. Technology has helped education in many ways. I disagree with Haas and Rashke's opinions because they do not think that technology is a good thing for education; they believe it is dumbing the population down. In all reality, knowing more about technology and using it to gain knowledge is easier than looking it up in a book. It is a faster way of getting things done. People are moving faster than ever now and wanting to get more things accomplished than they thought was ever possible. Back when technology was new and slow, there were things that were not possible. Now, there is the entire world out there and it is accessible through a computer. Writing, reading, art, music, movies, people, etc... Everything is on a tiny, yet powerful instrument and it makes life that much easier. Sure, reading a good book now and then and writing in a journal is a good way to keep in touch with yourself. I think that technology is something that we need. I do not think it is something that is making the culture imbeciles. Sure, we have it easy now with everything right in front of us, but that makes it that much easier to get things done.