The Virtual Life

I like the Internet.

I really like my laptop, which is my connection to everything. It's an escape, a distraction, entertainment, everything I need when there isn't another human to occupy me. But I don't think I would suffer too terribly if I missed it for a couple of days. However, there are people that depend so completely on the Internet that their life would be incomplete without it. I recently read a post by Ezra Klein and later a post by Roger Ebert that revealed to me something I never really thought about before: That sometimes someone's complete loneliness can only be relieved by the computer. There are unique situations where, as mentioned in Ezra Klein's article and Roger Eberts', a disability or just personal issues and loneliness that  forces the Internet to be "their window to the real world." It's true that loneliness could be helped by the anonymity of the Internet but there also people who argue that one can't be "fully human" through the Internet. There are conflicting emotions with this line of thinking. On one hand, there are some circumstances beyond our grasp that definitely require on the complete dependence on the computer. I'm referring to the man, Jason Rowe, written about in Klein's article who can live a virtual life through a game. On the other hand, human beings are social creatures that need interactions with others.


For me, I need to talk to people on a regular basis, and that's the truth for most of us. Then there will be those periods where I want to be by myself, in my room, with no one to disturb me. But that's not loneliness, it's a desire to be alone.

Personally, I can relate to Roger Ebert's article which states that lonely people desire companionship, love and recognition, etc. from other people. Actually, everyone desires these things from other people  but lonely people don't have much interaction with others. Their portal to the world is through the Internet where there's somewhat of a fulfillment of that need to be recognized. There are some times in my life where I feel I can talk to no one. But the truth is, I could talk to anyone, I just choose not to. So what is loneliness? A self-inflicted choice or something else entirely?