I think the New Media Reader (NMR) was talking to me about itself… Well, at least the first two authors were talking to me about the NMR.

I do believe that I have never seen a textbook author refer to the textbook during an article. I actually had to stop reading and ponder over the perplexity of this matter. (Did you like my little alliteration?)

The most interesting quote that I took from the reading was on page 19. In talking about the new “ideological tropes” associated with new media, Lev claims that “it will contribute to ‘the erosion of moral values’; it will destroy the ‘natural relationship between humans and the world’ by eliminating the distance ‘between the observer and the observed.’” I have written in my margin: “Holy Poop”.

Apparently I should have followed my mom’s advice about videos games; they destroyed me as a person, well, maybe just part of me. I do not necessarily see “the destruction of moral values” through the use of new media. Video games always have the “good vs. evil” themes. Sure I can be on the “evil” side, but it always has some sort of repercussion associated with it in the game (I look horribly ugly or NPCs won’t talk to me). Programmers import the morality system of everyday life into the games they create. Do I witness more violence? Yes, but I still understand the difference between fantasy and reality.

Or has the line between fantasy and reality been blurred because of my time spent on / in the “new media”. By “eliminating the distance” between the media and myself, I have lost touch with reality.

Well I agree and disagree with that statement. I most definitely lose all sense of reality while playing a game, surfing the web, or watching a show on my computer, but I always have to comeback to reality. Any casual user will completely understand that an effort must be made to keep physical contact with people; AIM does not replace going out to dinner with a friend. I am very much still a part of the world when I want to be, but I now have a way to exit for a short period of time.

My computer is not my anti-drug, it is my drug of choice.