rick (05/17/82)
Computer games that isolate the players from their peers are a continuation of a phenomenon that has been going on in North- American society for a couple of generations now. I am referring to the tendency toward passivity and isolation brought about at first by the mass media, and now continued by computer games. In particular -- Johny Carson is a better conversationalist than I or nearly anybody I know. (I have an aunt who is a better conversationalist than he is, but she is nearly 70 years old now, and she started learning how a long time ago.) Johny Carson's guests are more interesting than anybody I could invite over to my house. So it is more fun to sit and listen to him/them than to have a bunch of friends over and sit around and talk for the evening. As a consequence, the "art of conversation" has taken it in the ear (figuratively) in recent generations. Reading requires that the "user" at least exercise some imagination to get the most out of the experience. The requirement for personal input to our recreational experiences has gotten progressively less as the technology of mass entertainment has gotten more and more sophisticated. Radio took away the requirement that we use our hands to turn the pages and our eyes to follow the words, (This may have been a positive good, because it allowed us to get something else done -- like the dishes -- while we were being entertained.) Television left our hands free, but grabbed our eyes back. Now computer games have taken back our hands. At the same time, the amount of imagination demanded by the pastime has gotten less and less, until finally, computer games have made personal imagination almost unnecessary. Where will it all end?