‘Real’ used to be a word that was much more clear-cut than it is now. It used to mean the physicality of the things around you. The things you can touch, taste, and smell. Things that are measurable in weight and size.
Real –adjective
-something that actually exists, as a particular quantity.
But now, that definition doesn’t even seem accurate anymore. People go in to a virtual world and make virtual friends. These people they make friends with aren’t just in the computer. They are real people somewhere else in the world. But these people may never meet in real life. All they know is the other’s virtual self.
By joining these games, people create an alternate reality for themselves. They immerse themselves in another world and life. Many times, it is to escape their own reality. In some ways, this life online does become reality. Many people even account for replacing their ‘real’ lives with this reality.
"The game almost ruined my life," said the network engineer in southern
To this man, ‘real’ was his avatar in Everquest. This avatar was made up of nothing more than numbers. According to the dictionary, that life wasn’t real. But to this man, it was. He put his alternate life before his primary one. And there are millions of people in the world who feel this same way. Some people refer to it as an addiction, but others see it as an escape. This other life is real to these people. This other life is their life. The line between ‘real’ and ‘just a video game’ has faded. Now it’s becoming little more than just a blur.
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