HW 7 Interview and Survey:

The question I asked my brother, Guido was "Do you think its possible for an online identity to be the same as their real identity?"

Guido responded saying that people can percieve virtual life as reality in a delusional state . Then he gave an example of a documentary he found on the internet on BBC about a game called the second life, where the second life is virtual life and people turn out to he happier on their second life than in their real lives. He brought up that there were two circumstances where a couple met each other online. The first example, after the couple finally met in person, it was an awkward experience for them. Then, in the second example, they liked the relationship they had in reality more than online. He then explained, "Virtual reality is like an asymptote, it will come closer and closer to reality because of advances in technology, but it won't ever quite be the same."

Guido explained how on a societal level it is unhealthy to substitute digital representations for reality and it is not accepted in society. But on a more personal level, people will be delusionalized into thinking their online self is an accurate representation of themselves seeing it as something casual or normal. I personally believe that the two levels will eventually merge (or maybe it is in the process of merging) into society also believing it is casual to believe the virtual representation of you online is equal to real physical you.

We (me and my partners, Esther and Paola) then asked a man and a woman what they thought about technology. They seem very amused by the new technology constantly saying that they didn't have any of it when they were our age. They started off saying that they thing the new technologies are better and more convenient. We then asked them how long they spend using technology. The man said that he uses it all the time, and the lady says that she does not stay on the computer for a very long time, she just looks up what she has to and gets off, she believes it is a bad habit to be on the computer all day. They make a schedule for their kids to do their homework before they go on the computer or talk on the phone.

I then asked a woman what she thought, she says that an online identity and a real identity will never be the same because people instinctivly say good timgs about themselves online, they don't really say anything bad about themselves. People can hide their flaws while they are online, whereas, in person, all their flaws a visibly there.

Afterwards, we asked her how long she spends on the computer. She says that she is a photographer so she has to be online all the time to advertise her work and digitally upload the photos she takes. Even when she is not on the computer, she is on her blackberry emailing people as she goes outside to walk her dog. She then said that people should only spen about 10 minutes a day on the computer or using technology. We then asked her, in what way can you make this happen?, she said by getting an assistant to do it for her. At the end of the day, according to her, someone has to be on the computer to get the job done. Because technology makes things more convenient, most things are done on the computer and the option of doing things in an old fashioned, non digital way seems to be out of the question.

We then asked her to contrast the digital world with the real world, she says that online you can be anything that you want because you create yourself, she describes it as a "Liar's paradise" and its a way for people to escape reality. Finally, we asked our last question, is this new technology good or bad?, she replies, its not good, but its too late and we are doomed.

I then brought up these questions with a my cousin who is not in the class. She says she spends 10+ hours a day on electronics. Then I asked her how much she should spend a day, she says "I don't feel like it affects me in any way...but...I don't think I could live without my cell phone" she is constantly texting throughout the day. Then, I asked whether a virtual identity matches a real identity, she say that physical features are generally the same, unless for some reason the photo representation on your virtual identity is not you. But in conversations you can't tell a person's reaction and its hard to detect emotions, for example, sometimes its hard to tell if someone is being sarcastic through digital technology.

Finally, I asked her whether she thought the new technologies in society were problems or a form of progression. She thought that in some ways its a problem, she used the example that accidents happen while people are texting and driving at the same time, she knew of a girl who died from an accident where she was infact driving and texting at the same time. But then they are good in case of emergency if you need to call someone, because of the way society is, people need cell phones. Generally, technology has its pros and cons.