Modern Immortality
As I watched video-game addicts on Dr. Phil (6/3/09), I began to think. What the doctors don’t seem to understand, is that the video game MATTERS. You can’t necessarily touch it or put it in your mouth, but it IS real; more tangible than the beginnings of our imaginations to say the least. And why is this? consider the one consistency to the addictive games: you can come back to life.
The rise and domination of science on (some of our) culture has subconsciously made a mountain of our fear of death. Religion, in humanity’s history, has tried to lay waste to that fear, but today is far from history. The bleak prospect of simply dying or to cease to be (esp. bleak since vanity dictates we deserve to be) feeds easily into facilitating any denial possible. It is the prospect of being born, growing strong, dying only to rise again with vengeance, is the ambrosia of the addiction and fills the hole created when science killed belief in immortality.
Anyways, from that vague argument I want to return to the people on Dr. Phil’s show. The guy getting the intervention is in a bit of denial about how important games are to him; but he’s a warrior, he’s on Dr. Phil after all… that takes guts. Dude, stop neglecting your wife. Accept that she doesn’t play games and it is not fun for her. But really, its the other two that Dr. Phil brought on who are the real psychos.
Mom of the boy who CHOSE to commit suicide, to you I say this: You created a large part of the dark side of his fantasy and, for certain, you helped him arrive at decisive suicide. How dare you go on TV and damn your own son’s memory? You’re the most lost form of victim.
‘Reformed’ addict, you are definitely a lil bitch. I’ll bet all my money that as a kid, despite your best efforts, you were terrible at sports and always the last kid picked. You grew up a dweeb and as you entered young adulthood you rushed into your nerd legacy of video games…. only to find you that you sucked at those too. I hope you realize that all this really means is that you’re a lousy team player, but I doubt you believe this. You think online friends are this grand mystery of anonymity, but you’re way off the mark. Just like in the physical world, you can decide to what about yourself to share with another – its called “socializing”. Face the fact that it is simply a flaw in YOU that you could not be yourself in the game. Don’t demonize the game for it. And if you try to kill yourself, you’ll FAIL.
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