Comments on: Virtual Worlds Prove That Life Is Too Real

By: Dusan

Dusan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:32:34 +0000

I suppose I didn’t sound sufficiently snarky so was unclear about my opinion. In any case, yes, I did read Castranova’s book and blogged about it at length:

http://dusanwriter.com/?p=229

By: Prokofy Neva

Prokofy Neva — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:52:27 +0000

Dusan, I can’t believe you are recycling this over-used PPT of Jane’s — it’s ghastly. As if there aren’t horrible wars in Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan — oh, and lots of nasty things in reality, as if it’s all about California Happiness.

This was all debated awhile ago, here:
http://www.raphkoster.com/tag/jane-mcgonigal/

Meanwhile your friend Jane was busy cooperating with the government of China to make an ARG around the Olympics. Sigh.

It’s crude and disgusting and atavistic, this idea that you can “make reality like a game”. Only goofy self-indulged people in a terribly affluent setting like Silicon Valley could come up with this stuff.

Uh, did Ted’s big exodus take place yet? And have you REALLY read his second book? The parts where he tells you that what happiness engineers need to do is to tape deep into the instinctual nervous system of the human being deliberately, and manipulate it? The way thrilling war games manipulate it? Ugh.

By: Robbie Kiama

Robbie Kiama — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:05:04 +0000

Great post, seems like we will be seeing more and more of these ARG type of activities/experiences as the technological advancement will catch up all over the world.

Interesting to see what projects are there that successfully create such an experience and tie it maybe to their working habits …