Marginally closer to reality

As I read Bolter and Grusin, I couldn't stop thinking about other movies they didn't mention, specifically Tron, Johnny Mnemonic, and The Matrix. All these seem to parallel perfectly Bolter and Grusin's arguments concerning our continued strive toward emcompassing reality through digital expression. Our desire for immediacy in these films is satisfied by the actual immersion of a person or people inside the digital medium and the near-complete escape from the difficulties of the real world through advanced virtual reality.

I can't think of any passage within the reading, however, in which they offer a psychological explanation for why we desire immediacy and a false reality that is as close to "real" as possible. I keep wondering what it is that draws us to The Matrix in the sense of virtual reality. It certainly expresses the ultimate in immediacy, in which the medium is completely erased from our perspective.

Tophat1 mentioned the possibility of a point in the future at which technology ceases to advance. Is this a point that we are working towards? Will there be a point at which virutal reality will be indistinguishable from reality except that we know we are hooked up to a machine? I can't even think about all the questions and implications such a technology would create. The benefits scientifically and economically are one reason for our desire for such a false reality, but I still am curious about what else it is that makes us want this kind of immediacy.