Reflection

What are we thinking about when we think about computers? What is more intriguing, what do we think when we use computers? What is going through our minds when we tap into the vast (yet limited) realm of something that doesn't physically exist...a man made fate of wasted time and entertainment of "living" as another.

The Sims, a computer game that allows a user to establish a residence, a lifestyle, and even a family, takes computer gaming to a new level of unproductive. Gaining points in stamina, logic, and strength acts as an innocent thief to those blind to their own productivity of the things they wish to attain by the clicking of a mouse.

The residence of a Sims user is constructed from the ground up. No money to build? No worries! There are bound to be some "cheats" or codes to attain vast amounts of money that one can find through a search engine. When the money rolls in, expensive brick is not out of reach. The biggest, best, prettiest furniture is not too far-fetched to attain! Sound familiar? Remember the Matrix scene where Neo says, "We need guns...lots of guns," and an infinite number of firearms come rolling in? Have we made our own man made Matrix?

As we blankly look upon a screen, our minds are the only things at work (and maybe our mouse fingers)...much like the scenario The Matrix gives us. Time holds no boundaries. We get lost in the hours of improving a make-believe, non-existent character that is only a visual construct of what we've created with our imaginations and options available through the time-consuming computer game.

How different is The Matrix? People sit in their bubble in a different time as they work for something that is imaginary and only in their mind. It is a view of something that doesn't even exist. The Matrix isn't physical. It may feel like one was living while in The Matrix, but in reality their real bodies were almost lifeless...hooked into a machine.

The Sims will allow us to see that our characters, constructed and controlled via a machine, “react” emotionally to different scenarios. The characters can fall in love, get depressed, show joy, get angry, and do things out of the ordinary. These “passionate” simulations of people reveal the humanlike reactions that games have been programmed to give. Without it, how involved would we become in the game play? Maybe characters on the Sims should all be named Hal.

Speaking of Hal, 2001: A Space Odyssey, has a character that is not a person, but a computer. The computer has a mission: to fulfill its mission, no matter what the cost…even if it means taking human life. Hal was a machine with what most would consider real, raw emotion. The way he reacts to situations is probably why AMC played 2001: A Space Odyssey during a marathon of horror films. A computer with emotions strikes fear into the hearts of many. The more human a machine becomes, the more frightening it becomes. While The Sims isn’t literally killing people, it is killing time. While fixed eyes stare at a constructed character working out, the user is slowly but surely getting a little soggy in the muscle area. Productivity for the machine is counter-productive as purposeful and useful time is wasted at the turn of the hour hand of the clock. As long as we are in control of the machine, we feel safe.

What about when we are not in control of the machines? I remember the popular hit toy and frustrating menace of a machine. I like to call this annoyance “Furby.” Furby, the furry toy that had no “off” button, no switch to disengage the machine from its idle babbling and meaningless chatter, was, what I am convinced to be, the revolutionary idea that will lead to Arnold Schwarzenegger machines called “Terminators.” Where is the off switch? When do the batteries run out?


Blade Runner, aside from Terminator, is another film that revealed the danger of creating a self sustaining machine that “thinks” for itself. When we lose control, as humans did with the cyborgs and replicants, we find ourselves in a mess that we caused and we try to clean it up. In Terminator, it was just trying to keep judgment day from occurring as self sustaining machines attempted to destroy the world. Replicants, on the other hand, were assembled to “die” after having a very short life, as they began rebelling against their creators. This seems to happen every time an “ERROR!” message comes on the screen on a desktop or laptop computer. The rebellion!

Not knowing the difference in human and computer is another alien thing to us. As Turkle spoke about the chat rooms where machines were responding to people, it makes one wonder, has a conversation sparked between two computers that has yet to be resolved? Have they been speaking in circles for days? Weeks? Months? Years? Will we ever discover if such communication exists between computers? Or do we really have control over them? Have we lost control of a machine when chat rooms are filled with computers being hit on by creepy single men. Is it punishment? Or maybe it is a distraction from keeping creepy people away from children or potential victims that are innocently strolling through the web.

In conclusion, when we look at a computer, do we see ourselves? Do we see our achievements and the great accomplishments of man? Or do we see our destruction, whether in the future in a Terminator manner, or will we look back on our lives and see the time we have wasted sitting at a machine? Are our futures destroyed due to a lack of productivity? Are we watching a fantasy life on the screen as we play The Sims, or are we living, outside of a connection with a machine? The question isn’t if there life on the screen. The question is, when we look at the screen, do we see our reflection or do we carry another identity? Do we become someone different when we hook into the machine? I believe many do.