Manovich is correct when he asserts, “new media change our concept of what an image is-because they turn a viewer into an active user.” I think that people know the reality of what they are interfacing with but that they choose to go into someone else’s reality or to escape their own. This is the reason that soap operas have been so popular for over 50 years. Some people like dealing with other people’s situations or escaping their own, or imagining something better or just different than what they have. These have morphed into the reality shows we have today. I am not sure this is a good reflection on society. I think we should be worried about escapism on this level. I am sure it is being studied and we could find what is being said about it. Manovich argues that “the reality effect in many areas of new media only partially depends on an image’s appearance. Maybe he is also saying that we are only being fooled but since we are fools, we are ready and willing to go with it.
We live in an era where people are so intensely stimulated from computers and I- phones, hundreds of channels on TV etc., that we are getting so bored and distracted that we need increasingly more and more to be satisfied. Tom’s post on the evolution of education gave an interesting quote about incidence of ADHD rising in direct relation to the rise of standardized testing, and perhaps also to the levels of distraction to all the available stimulations of technology as well. Is all this stimulation and multi-tasking really improving our brains and functions and output?
But a beneficial side is this technology as Manovich discussed in this chapter us the ability to use these simulators etc., as preparation for real life situations such as preparing for space walks, war situations, even practicing for complicated surgeries.
Many of these advancements are a great benefit to us, as an example in yesterday's paper about Google testing a car that drives itself, citing improved emissions, better safety as some of the benefits.
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