Most of us have fond memories of games we've played in the past. Perhaps it was family nights growing up playing Monopoly or Scrabble, or maybe a favorite sport which brought a sense of camaraderie and friendship with one's peers. However, with the advance of technology our world is ever changing, even our beloved games, as with so many things there are often two sides to the same coin.
Some might argue technology and the Internet offer us new connections to the larger world, allowing us to keep in contact with each other in ways we might not be able to otherwise. After all, how often have things like cell phones or chatting on laptops allowed us to keep up with our busy lives and still stay in touch?
Yet, there is something else that technology gives us that can be a double edged sword - anonymity. For some the anonymity of online games offers a freedom they couldn't have otherwise, such as games as Second Life (a 3-D world in which people can create fictional lives) or World of Warcraft (a 3-D world set in a fantasy setting). With games like Second Life boasting populations of more than 8 million (according to their main Web site) these games can hardly be dismissed as marginal.
At the same time anyone who has spent enough time using chat knows the limitations of technology. Without facial expressions and a real tone of voice certain expressions become unclear (such as saying "That's just great!" in a sarcastic manner).
But if communication can become confused or simply concealed at simple levels, what can we say about the larger fictional worlds that continue to draw so many people? How much do we really truly communicate with others in such situations? How much is really lost? And how much do we really know about people in such a digital environment when a new self could just be a new online account away?
Although one might become concerned about issues like online predators, I'm talking about something more subtle. I'm asking, what do we lose when we lose that face-to-face interaction? There can be something unsettling about stepping back and realizing that despite chatting for hours in a chat room, you've actually been alone the entire time in a real physical sense.
It can be ironic in a way that technology has the power both to bring us together as well as isolate us at the same time. And I think there is something to be said for reality of direct human interaction compared to the mask of technology. People who play games together in person (especially many games of competition) will tell you there is a uniquely human aspect to the competition.
For example, the game of poker is radically different when the trickery and guile of the human expression creates doubt and risk, but it is that very risk that enthusiasts of the game enjoy. The same holds true for countless other games, such as strategy games like the board game Stratego or the popular card game Magic the Gathering, which has sparked both large international tournaments as well as many local gaming tournaments.
There continues to be something to the energy and skill that human beings create when the come together face-to-face that the mask of technology loses as it denies the complexity of human expression and clothes self-hood in the vague cloud of anonymity.
I don't deny that technology can bring us together, but we should examine all the facets of how we interact with others and choose for ourselves the nature of those interactions rather than simply allowing technology to choose it for us.
Write to Aaron at amfleming@bsu.edu
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