tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795295964422546721.post3756283047229892814..comments2019-10-01T05:29:35.941-07:00Comments on Adventures in Cuzco: Exchange a tweet for a real live Hello!Amy Royse Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622924358759529559noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795295964422546721.post-50966855216041395772012-11-14T19:35:13.201-08:002012-11-14T19:35:13.201-08:00The last comment you made about people forgetting ...The last comment you made about people forgetting about the real world is something that scares me. You have a point about the virtual world being a way for people not to make such a mess of the world but it will make them less active and care less about the world outside. What a predicament! Amy Royse Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13622924358759529559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795295964422546721.post-6464541912876431422012-11-14T16:03:05.519-08:002012-11-14T16:03:05.519-08:00For some time now here in the Chicago area, it has...For some time now here in the Chicago area, it has been unusual for people to speak to each other on the street, in common with most urban areas. Averted gazes and vacant looks on the face gave the impression that others around don't exist. Now, with gadgets, it's possible to actually DO something that will make it possible to not be present in any meaningful sense.<br /><br />I think for women out alone it is a security device - they don't want to have a stranger speak to them and being busy talking is a good way to ward that off, in addition to providing the obvious connection to another person to call for help immediately should anything frightening come up.<br /><br />But generally it's becoming rare to see anyone on the street looking where they are going. With eyes, and often ears, occupied, they are in a virtual world. I enjoy being outside because it is a break from PC use. The last thing I would want would be a phone call...it would interrupt my picking up litter! :)<br /><br />On the other hand, I think for the natural world, the distraction/attraction of human beings into the virtual world may prove to be a salvation. People are now so technologically empowered that they can go essentially anywhere on earth and frequently take some big vehicle with them. Supposedly wild places are taking a beating. Garbage piles up on Mount Everest, as an example.<br /><br />Virtual reality provides a safe but mentally stimulating place that leaves Mother Nature unmolested. As 3D HD video grows, the virtual can seem more exciting and engrossing than the real thing - and millions can do the same thing at once, which wouldn't be possible in reality. Want to go over a virtual Niagara Falls in a barrel? Go for it! Machines that simulate reality for the rest of the body won't be far off - modifying exercise machines would be a start - put on a heads-up display and you really are walking in some fantastic scenario, while going nowhere in reality.<br /><br />So I hope that virtual empowerment will diminish actual physical, on the scene, physical involvement. One possible down side might be that, once people don't really go out into the real world, they will not care if that real world is preserved, because few use it.Clif Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17561437041148734569noreply@blogger.com