Taboo subject no 6- when fantasy and reality blur.

When fantasy and reality blur

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Losing yourself in online gaming

Online role playing games are time-consuming, but enthralling flights from reality. But are some people taking their fantasy lives too seriously?

When video game World of Warcraft hit the shops in Europe last week fans wrote in to the BBC website to express their delight - and to offer a warning.

"An addiction to a game like this is far more costly in time than any substance could impair - keep track of time," wrote Travis Anderson, in Texas.

So what is it that blurs the line between fun and reality? This blurring is not restricted to gaming either. The Internet has also created these monsters of distortion.

Are those who lose themselves in the fantasy mentally ill? Have they an addiction personality trait that would manifest itself irregardless of what was available. Is it simply a sign of the time where the responsibility's of adulthood weigh to heavy and a desire to return to a childhood is just to strong to deny?

What of the ' Net hypochondriacs and Narcissus's' of the world. You know the ones, they have illness, obscure or repeating, one crisis after another, spread 'false' gossip around if anybody appears to be more popular than them. The look at me I am better than thee its all about me not you type. Easily identified as they get defencive and attack back to quick, lie or rather bend what was actually said, never listen and are always right. Quick to turn situations around so you are the one in the wrong, this is normally accompanied by a close group of friends who have been 'brainwashed' essentially. Who automatically run to the defence of and wrongly fuel the net narcissus and hypochondriac's mind further.

Woe betide anybody who see's through the web of fantasy being spun or gets the better of one. They then in turn are then hunted down, followed around and subjected to all forms of abuse in essence. There is nothing worse than a net narcissus or hypochondriac realising somebody has unwoven their tangled web. The results of this can be potentially devastating for the discoverer.

I would be shocked if anybody had not seen such person or had encountered such persons. Has the Internet spawned a playground for those with an over fertile imagination to play out some fantasy of their own mind creates?

Where in the case of the 'net Narcissus and the hypochondriacs' does it leave the genuine people?


I truly never know who to feel sorrow for the most. The perpetrator or the 'close friends'. Are both just as bad as each other? Is that an unfair comparison to make?

True there are some who seem to manage without games or the Internet. He being one of them. Then is that a product of his or that created by his family's ambitions?

I don't feel sorry for any person who does these kinds of things. It is not as if there isn't enough medical help available out there for them. I wouldn't necessary feel sorry for the friends either of such persons. Then perhaps I am overly harsh here. How can yo honestly tell what your friends are doing is true or fictitious? You only have their word at worst at best what you have seen. Then again some even go to elaborate lengths to create such things. I suppose you have to look at serial killers, most appear well mannered respectable members of the community. Yet they are not.

Is it the question not the blurring of reality and fantasy but how much we really knows about others and even ourselves? Then again perhaps a question should be raised why the need to lose yourself that much to a fantasy environment?

What are your thoughts on this?

I thought this thread was asking questions on a sexual fantasty/reality blur when i saw the header....

Gaznandi wrote:

I thought this thread was asking questions on a sexual fantasty/reality blur when i saw the header....

Sometimes I'm scared I know your mind so well.

That's part of the topic above, I just didn't add the X part.

I'd argue that 'reality' (or, more accurately, the norms) are largely ridiculous - Socially, politically and economically revolving around servitude ... restriction ... segregation ...
Escapism lies in, as you've said, games and the internet but also in books, films, television, sports, art, music, stamp collecting, flower arranging, etc - as an entirely personal action it could really be anything.

I know which one I think seems more enjoyable.

In that respect I would have to say pick your 'monster' - those that DO NOT lose themselves in fantasy are just as mentally ill. Only when we free ourselves from the shackles of our own creation will well-being ensue.

Regarding these liars, does it really matter? Surely there are but a few circumstances where it can actually negatively affect you. Let them get on with it.

WB tUrniP.

You hit some fair points there. Imagination is frowned upon, it's viewed by some,as a waste of time and efficiency.

The problem with spending time in the fantasy is just that time. Whereas some like to get things done and finshed as quickly, there are others who like to take time and explore.

For those who rush they see those who dawdle as time wasters and cannot understand or have the patience to put up with this slow pace.

I know when I was game tester I had to rush through the games to put them under pressure etc, and its habit that can stick and often does with me.

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WB tUrniP.

Thank you

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You hit some fair points there. Imagination is frowned upon, it's viewed by some,as a waste of time and efficiency.

The problem with spending time in the fantasy is just that time. Whereas some like to get things done and finshed as quickly, there are others who like to take time and explore.

For those who rush they see those who dawdle as time wasters and cannot understand or have the patience to put up with this slow pace.

I know when I was game tester I had to rush through the games to put them under pressure etc, and its habit that can stick and often does with me.

The next question, of course, is where are you going?

In actuality we are all lost (he says, arrogantly applying his values to all) and without a destination time cannot be wasted. Really the only A to B is birth to death, so, I would ask, why the hurry to die?

Hurry to die , which is why some resort in either insisiting everything is done now and will not wait for anything. Or why others cram as much as they can into thier lives without actually taking time to enjoy it.