A number of people have already mentioned that Second Life can help can help cure real-world addictions. The game's ability to provide real-time, world-wide counseling at little or no cost will definitely help those addicts with the means and knowledge to access Second Life. (A serious question to ask: How many crack addicts own computers, have internet access, and know how to use Second Life? How big could that particular population grow?) In any case, the Duke team has done some fascinating work on the intersection of VRs and RRs.
This lead me to a curious, not quite congruent idea: If a person can feel their addictions while playing Second Life, could virtual realities be addictive as well? Certainly not as destructive an addiction as crack-cocaine, but as serious as an addiction to eating, pornography, or television. Many sites have picked up on this, but they tend to treat it as problem for 'some people.' That is, some sites still consider addiction to VRs as a hypothetical condition represented by a tiny minority.
Addiction and Second Life
Second Life Insider
Yet, a number of people on both of those blogs have compelling enough anecdotal evidence to support the possibility of a real, serious, addiction. And even if only a tiny subset of people become addicted to WoW, SL, or Everquest (we used to call it 'EverCrack' in junior high), we must still come to a consensus as to how much VR is too much VR.
I'm not advocating panic and abandonment of SL. Rather, I think we should begin to think about how to create programs that help people deal with VR addictions, and build them over time. It seems unwise to simply chalk-up an addiction to the Internet or VR as a symptom of the 21st century, or a benign replacement for other forms of activity when so many questions remain.
No comments:
Post a Comment