Rocket Scientist

The Secret of Newton , which is one of my new favorite blogs despite my deplorable lack of interest in whatever secret Newton might have had, has this ongoing discussion with, at the least, himself on something called Crayon Physics.  Now, if you’re one of those hip science/philosophy types that goes, “Duh, everyone knows about Crayon Physic,” you might want to stop right here.  I’ll admit, I’d never heard of Crayon Physics before reading his blog and the references I found elsewhere keep pointing to a game where people can do stuff in a computer to manipulate a ball like one does in real life.

I’m presuming they are related.  Secret of Newton has been discussing scenarios where virtual reality become so complete, so wondrous, so perfect, that a ball is simulated with texture and weight, physics and appearance so perfectly it is impossible to discern the difference between it and a real ball.  And that people are willing to fork over fortunes to “play” with this nonexistent simulation (as well as speculating about the repercussions in such a scenario if, for simplicity, they substituted a real ball to save themselves a hassle).  And that’s where he lost me.

Oh, not because I don’t believe people would pay ridiculous amounts to do something like that.  Truth is, you could probably come up with a VR ride today that could fool people into thinking they had a real ride into space.  And, if you couldn’t, it won’t be long.  People get excited on the slimmest excuses, about this or that celebrity (you’re not confusing them with reality are you?) or this or that cyber commodity like points or credits.  Heck, people sell Diablo II and World of Warcraft items (and probably items from other on-line games as well) on eBay, for real money!

No, I’m lost because I don’t get that.  Why in the world would playing with a simulated ball be better than playing with a real one?  Can’t hit your son in the head (which mine loves for some inexplicable reason) with a simulated ball and, if you could, what’s wrong with a real one?  I don’t get games where I pretend to play football or basketball or do anything else I’d be better off doing in real life (Cyber-swimming, now in 3-D!).  Why play in the snow on-line if you have snow outside and, if you hate snow, why are you playing with it on line?  Can you honestly tell me a cyber cat is as good as a real one?  Why would you want it to be?  Another big one even in video games I love: fishing.  Cyber fishing?  Are you kidding me?  I don’t understand the draw.

Nor do I understand all the work to come up with cheat codes and “buy” or finagle good items.  Um, isn’t the whole point to do it yourself?  (Stop throwing erasers at me!  OK, a different time, ’cause I’ve had this discussion with my husband and I don’t get this either).

Now, there are things I enjoy doing in a simulated environment, like kicking major butt with weapons and sharp stuff in a world where everything I slash is nasty and or demonstrably evil, but, even there, I don’t want it to be so real it’s like, you know, really killing stuff.  If the blood and gore get too realistic, if I can feel the bones crunching with my blows, I’ve been taken too far. [And, if that sounds good to you, you might want to seek professional help.]  (Barbrawl 2000:  Now with mouth guard - you’ll need it!)

There are other things I like to do virtually, of course.  Some things I can do cyber fine: travel and stuff, that’s cool.  I suck as a tourist.  Even so, I’d rather see and go some places in person.  I can do cyber lessons and learning with a smile.  I love telecons vs. actual meetings (yay, can get stuff done at the same time!) and many other virtual time savers like instant document transferal and chat.

So, if you’re the sort that thinks its perfectly reasonable to lay out big bucks to do something you can readily do in real life but virtually, I can safely say, I don’t get it.  But to each their own.

(Don’t forget to vote!)

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