Virtual worlds have broken boundaries of the real world. Daryl Paranada,an associate web producer for Marketplace, writes an article including an excerpt from the book Reality is Broken, written by Jane McGonigal. McGonigal is a designer of alternate reality games that in her eyes can help improve your real life.She discusses how games can make us better and improve the world by helping people to alleviate suffering and allowing a more “engaged” lifestyle.

I really do not agree with McGonigal’s argument. First of all, sitting in front of a screen for so long is not good for anyone’s health.It has been scientifically proven that the light emitted from television screens causes over-stimulation in the brain which can lead to many behavioral illnesses including ADD and autism in children. Also, people are becoming “couch potatoes” and would rather sit in front of the television than go outside for a walk. Obesity rates are increasing alarmingly, especially in children who are playing video games any chance they can get. As the television is becoming more and more dominant in people’s lives, relationships are becoming less and less dominant. We are losing quality relationships with actual people to form relationships with people (or other objects/creatures/avatars) that don’t exist. This is what McGonigal calls an “engaged” life. As people get more and more absorbed into this virtual world, they lose a sense of reality. For them, reality is broken. In the excerpt, even the author says that as people find their spot in the gaming world, they feel something is missing in the real world. Well, if you live in a fantasy any chance you can get, your expectations evolve and become relevant to that world. So, when you come back to the real world, you have fantasy like expectations. Also, gaming cannot alleviate suffering, it can only mask it. The suffering will always be there, even if it is in your innermost depths. All you are doing is ignoring it.

Life isn’t shaped towards your visions. You can’t control it or predict it and it’s definitely not perfect.That’s the beauty of real life; you have to accept it just the way it is.