Defining “Real”
By Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer and filmmaker
Every so often I run upon articles on this site that naturally intrigue my senses on how I view one’s mind. It’s not to say that I know everyone here like the back of my hand, but it helps from a perspective on how I can approach these talented writers here without coming off sideways to them, if that makes sense.
Relatively speaking, there are a couple of exceptions to this rule. For instance, I find Burbie’s consistency on her articles to be a very inspiring way to keep my writing endeavors stable; I figure that if she can do it, then so can I, right? Kassadee Marie’s “On a Budget” articles kept me aware that she’s someone who has a good eye on quality budget items on Home. Femaelstrom is a passionate writer that not only writes what’s on his mind, but he’ll straight up tell it like it is. No doubt, I find some of his articles to be the talk amongst my group of friends.
Then there are articles that I consider to be “brainy” — of which these types just cater to the intelligent life forms that simply would be out of my thought realm mostly due to other endeavors or the lack of experience and knowledge upon those subjects.
But they’re fascinating, too. It calls for such a reset from the overload that’s within this cranium of mine and forces “focus” on the subject at hand. I may not be right some of the time, if not all the time despite what others positively make me out to be.
Such example to this is Sealwyf’s newest article, dealing with the many layers of who we are and the faces we present to the world. After reading it, what echoes in my mind is an inquiry that Morpheus made to Neo: what is real? How can we define real? What can we, as humans, define as “real”?
How can this be compared to PlayStation Home?
To the average gamer, Home is perhaps a lousy social MMO that is a waste of time to them. It’s a game that most don’t take as serious as a bullet to the head against your competitive opponent in Call of Duty or a well-placed crouching medium kick linked with a standing fierce punch for 30% damage combo in Super Street Fighter IV. Rather, it’s dumb for anyone to take Home seriously if you get angry due to their negative follies against you or anyone else.
To the casual users, Home is escapism from the harsh realities that they would define as real, like a bad day at work or the mental abuse you receive from a horrible relationship you’re in. You wish to escape that reality and find complete solace in a virtual world that may or may not be real. Here, it’s a utopia that deeply nestles into your mind that nothing could ever hurt you or lead you astray from the void you’ve left behind — that is, until you press the PS button that’s modded right in the center of your controller and choose the option “Quit Playstation Home”, which leads you to the XMB menu.
From there, it’s options. A layer of them, to be exact.
An avid Home user is defined as a serious user to most. They understand and appreciate the finest layers laid within the virtual world and warp this virtual reality into its own. And I’m included in this group. I’m standing right here in this psychedelic space known as Aurora, gazing upon the bright mango hues in the sky which inspires yet another video and fashion project I’ll construct. Perhaps, this might be some deployment of my usual humorous self here.
In actuality, I’m sitting on my comfortable bed reaching out to my comfortable running shoes, preparing for my morning regimen. The sun couldn’t be any brighter and make this day any more beautiful than what God has woken me up to. A real experience, most say — but to be honest, this may not be the case. In fact, I’m lying to you.
Realistically, I don’t know what I’m doing. Maybe it’s due to me already doing it. What may classify as real to the statement may very well be such the activity from there. More so, my escapism from a mind overload I’ve endured for two months straight is leading me to head outside my house this instant, and to travel to my nearest bookstore that sells some of the most indulgent cheesecake brownies to have ever been crafted.
Maybe this is where I am right now, constructing this article which speaks on an age-old inquiry; defining realism. To peel off these layers from the inspiration that stems across this article, this artistic mind may spawn into a project. Are you more than the sum of your tastes, inclinations, desires and actions?
Personal belief: I’m not real. I’m just a being, doing a higher power’s calling to try to make the world a better place by creating things which people can enjoy. To even get this out of me? Well, this is all unreal.
Welcome to Home.
May 31st, 2013 by Jin Lovelace | 5 comments
Jin Lovelace is a machinimist and team writer for HomeStation Magazine, as well as the founder of Twilight Touch Inc. -- http://twilighttouchinc.com and http://youtube.com/twilighttouchinc. When not found in PlayStation Home, Jin studies graphic design and illustration (character design and fashion), gaming, and the culinary arts.
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Deep man. And also touches on religion at the end there, which I’ll avoid for the obvious reasons. But the reality/not real part…
It’s a very good question; what is real. Because if reality is just a physical reaction to things, then any dreams we might have will only ever be that -- dreams. However, we already know this not to be true. As humans we can dream, think of the future and where we’d like to be when we arrive there. It’s precisely this that makes us so unique, because we have control over it. Don’t just dream it, BE it. We can imagine something (at which moment it may not be “real”) but we can then act on those thoughts and make them real.
Then there’s the whole alternate realities thing, can we exist in multiple places at once? There’s every possibility. If you told someone from 1975 that you can take a walk on a beach with a friend while you’re in New York and they’re in Tokyo, they’d phone the doctor, right? Say the same thing to an MMO user and it’s a normal statement to make. Put that on a grander scale involving multiple realities and you begin to wonder which YOU is “the real one”.
OUR reality is based on what we know right now of OUR time system, the molecules and particles we know of and how they work and what our eyes see as real. We can’t see the infrared, but we know it’s there, so just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. What else exists under our noses that our human parts cant detect?
And if they can’t detect or have awareness of us, are we real?
Very interesting read Jin. Thanks for the kind words, I love to write, it is as simple as that, and Home is a very inspiring place to use for it. Home has so many facets and stories, as many as the people that inhabit it. My family doesn’t really understand what I do here or have found here, though they love the fact I am writing for this magazine, they haven’t a clue how I find things to write about.
Great article, very thought provoking.
I love these kinds of discussions. Choices are made real by our imagination. I don’t believe you could ever put a hard number on how many choices we can make.
There are all of the other senses to consider. Being human should be very similar to a symphony in action. And a touch of the Heisenberg uncertainty principal.
What is real, is what you accept as real.
Its actually quite dangerous to consider social MMOs as anywhere near reality. They take an person and turn them into a person they cannot be in they real life. There are several ways a social MMO will use to get users to repeat actions usually through a rewards system. In effect, the social MMO rewards users to perform repetitive tasks and entices the player to play regularly and workman like. A social MMO encourages making friends or joining clubs that then become social obligations to the user. The danger lies in, are you addicted? Addiction has lots of symptoms but mainly its, can you go without it, do you think about it lots when your not doing it, and could you give it up now if required. Thats when it becomes an issue, as an addiction can cause anxiety and depression. Its hard to become addicted to a normal game as theres usually an end to a game and very little social interaction. A social MMO should not be a lifestyle choice and you should not need to change your lifestyle to use one. Remember the countless hours you put into this could simply go down the drain. All of your efforts merely result in a bunch of ones and zeros stored somewhere.
I have always said that Home and all it’s facets are real. Home is real because we do experience the stuff we send our avatars out to do. The reality is that when you meet someone, they are real, some body says something, it makes you mad or laugh. When you buy something, you don’t get a physical item, but you do get the entertainment of using it and having fun with it. I equate that to a movie, you walk in and pay and walk away with nothing but the memory in your head. Home is real and on so many levels. I love the reality and think that in this Home has a depth and value to so many of the more than casual user. Thank you for the comment on my writing, I just say what is on my mind, but I am glad that there folk out there that like it. Thanks Jin.