Is Life Becoming A Video Game?

July 31, 2012
By: Catherine Hilldrup

The popular video game ‘The Sims’ was created with the idea that the player gets the opportunity to act as God by controlling the lives of ‘Sims’. By making all their decisions, the player is able to idealise his or her own life using the gaming world as a platform. Having looked at video games like these from a different perspective, I have been led to pose a question which is becoming increasingly relevant as I grow up.  Are we striving for a convenient and functional life so much that we are forgetting about many of the important things that surround us naturally?

 For example, this article was written on my laptop, and was then transferred to this website and once published, it will be sent to my emails. Those emails will appear on my Smartphone which will then allow me to text people asking them their thoughts. All of these things will happen with a few simple clicks and movements, and the result? Ultimate convenience. We, like those Sims we’re so eager to control, are being controlled by technology itself.

We often joke about the whirlwind of technology which is growing more quickly than the hairs on our heads, but how have we become so dependent on all these gadgets which 10 years ago we could live without?  We are too preoccupied with our image within society, as having the latest and best devices often seems to symbolise how wealthy we are or even which class we are associated with. This can lead to an even bigger problem of crime, prejudice and possibly even self confidence issues. Are we forgetting about what’s important? Our social skills, our ability to do things without the aid of a phone or a computer or our ability to rely on the wires in our brains rather than the wires that run through the walls.

However, it’s not easy to complain about this broad network of convenience, life has never been more systematic and for someone as disorganised as myself, it’s a welcome part of my life. I am able to communicate easily with people all around the world, old friends from home, new friends at university and especially my family across the country. The ultimate test of the 21st century would be to go without these wonderful and complex gizmos. Could you take the challenge? Maybe in order to gain an appreciation of our own natural abilities, we should do so. However, ultimately we must realise that gone are the days of messengers and letters, these are the days of technological convenience.