World or Warcraft

Posted on May 26, 2007
Filed Under Journal, Consciousness, Movies, TV and Media |

You may not have played World of Warcraft, but trading in ones reality has become a big thing. In many ways it is a quest - not the path of the shaman but that of a rogue. A quest that slips beneath the level of the realms of reality. I believe that the online realms account for at least a small share in the changing face of consciousness. And in some ways it could be considered a power that cheats ones awareness…if only a little.

Warcraft Night Elf

Warcraft Orc

Why do I say it cheats us? Well simply because the nature of these particular worlds - whilst entirely non-physical - nonetheless rely upon a materialistic - if not a frozen social hierarchical perspective on life. Warcraft is interesting in that it expresses this phenomenon quite literally; essentially living in an alternate world yet playing by the economically driven rules of the real world. These realms are not about leveling the playing field but conditioning a sense of class focused social status. A review of the financial rewards of this would no doubt show favourable returns to the creators of such worlds.

Players from Warcraft

It’s no real secret - worlds like war craft are entirely focused on keeping the players within their realm. In the real world - especially in the west - we are conditioned from a very young age into certain beliefs. That school is a pathway into a Job, that a Job means income which allows us to purchase our way in the material domain. A home, a TV, all manner of other goodies that we deem essential. In essence what we have come to call “life”.

Of course there is more to life than “life”, even on a basic level there are certain demands that get in the way of our ability to buy and to consume. The fact that we are human, in many ways throws a spanner into the workings of the consumer driven world - limited time, requirement for food, inability to work non-stop. The online worlds reduce this factor as an impediment exponentially - such worlds are created from the ground up to keep you within them. To claim ownership over your time, to keep you coming back. Making sure you pay your money for the privilege.

The Ultimate Shopping World

In essence the sort of world corporations could only dream off. A world created purely to serve the interests of consumerism.

So yes - this represents a shift in consciousness, because people are thinking about themselves in a different context. And this is so for a number of reasons. Firstly the concept of ones identity is changing focus; ones identity becomes about the “Avatar” in these worlds, something that isn’t “you” - yet within the confines of those realms represents you. It is entirely possible to identify with those avatars to such an extent that within your mind it actually becomes you. Of course the same is true of perceiving others in these worlds - all you see is their avatar…those avatars are an extension of their players…and so they have “life”. It may sound obvious, but it is all about perspective and awareness.

It’s easy to believe those virtual worlds have some sort of power to them, something metaphysical. Yet they have been created from the ground up with one single purpose. Control, mis-direction and financial opportunity. I think this is a very important aspect to understand, because as the years move on such worlds are going to become a larger aspect of our lives. People will be able to make a living from them, in essence they will become an extension of the real world. This is nothing new - it’s all depicted in a hundred different sci-fi plots.

To me the entire problem is in associating metaphysically with these worlds. In the not too distant future, cell phones will no doubt develop to a level where they will literally integrate with your body in some form. You will literally be able to communicate with people as though they are standing next to you. Thought wave to thought wave. Just like telepathy…

…execpt it won’t be telepathy…

Technology becoming indistinguishable from magic. The problem is that many people will believe it to be the real thing. It’s going to be the greatest trick of our time.