Virtual Worlds: a Gruesome Dichotomy

The computer has allowed people to explore their personalities by way of virtual worlds.  Attaining psychotherapy was once only accomplished through a licensed psychiatrist, but the computer now allows for therapeutic remedies that resemble psychotherapy; people have gone from taking a mechanical approach to defining computers to a psychological one.  The transition has led to hyper-control of situations, fragmented emotion exploration and a support network for the downtrodden, ill-spirited soul.  As technology continues to support computer’s capabilities, humans will have more avenues to express themselves, thus creating a gruesome dichotomous split between self-expression on the one hand, and a path to electronic addiction on the other.

In chapter four of Life on the Screen, Turkle discusses two competing views of Computer Psychotherapy; Colby argued for the use of computer psychotherapy based on its cost-efficiency, among other things, and Weizenbaum attacked the limitations of the computer as a replacement for the psychiatrist.  Colby claimed that computers are more available to humans than psychiatrists, the service is cheaper and computers are unbiased.  At this point in history, according to Turkle, psychiatrists had a reputation for sexually assaulting their clients, and a computer would solve the problem.  Weizenbaum, however, claimed that computers could never understand a situation in the way a human or psychiatrist does, and therefore, the computer could never replace the psychoanalyst or therapist.  This point segues into a train of thought more akin to Colby’s philosophy on computer psychotherapy.

Today, humans have utilized computers for reasons that Colby expressed.  They offer cheap, quick, satisfying ways for people to express themselves.  As a postmodern tool, it is an object-to-think-with.  In her explanation, Turkle compares this psychological use of the computer to multiple personality disorder merely for a point of comparison, not a diagnosis.  In a sense, Multi User Domains allows one to explore areas of their personality, but one may easily discern one’s personality from another by way of logging in to the chosen personality for that day.  For example, my friend Nia Huerta could create a persona, a virtual representation of a personality she wishes to flaunt that day, that captures her artistic, flamboyant or bemused personality and the next day she can log in as an alienated, emotional male with a despondent attitude.  For that reason alone, many people have turned to virtual worlds.

Virtual worlds allow one to interact on a less responsible level in the sense that the user on the other side will not condemn conversations or movements because no formal relationship exists, and the comfort of knowing that the person on the other screen will never encounter you again if you butcher a conversation or act disrespectfully also adds to the lack of responsibility one has for his actions.  Unlike a psychiatrist, talking to someone on a computer allows for a continuous flow of conversation, for the speaker does not have to watch what he or she says.  Instead, a more open-minded listener is encouraged, and satisfying results are proliferated by this approach.  Not only do computers allow one to explore various personalities, they also allow the user to exercise hyper-control over situations.

Say you have an alcoholic father who gets violent when drunk—a situation every child avoids.  Virtual worlds allow users to treat situations differently than they would in real time, or in real life.  A boy with an abusive boozer for a father may use a virtual world to react to situations in a polar opposite way his father would treat the situation.  This has therapeutic implications because the boy will most likely feel that he is promoting a cause: not handling situations in a violent manner.  Someone who feels distant from family may also use a virtual world for therapeutic reasons thanks to its 24-hour constancy.  Around the clock there are people to talk to in virtual worlds.  Conversing with others can allow a lonely person to connect to other people going through the same thing, or maybe people that have advice on how to handle the situation most efficiently, thus providing a support network outside of the home.  But what happens when addiction becomes a problem; too, what about the negative implications it may have on socializing? 

Turkle discusses in her book that addiction can become a problem for avid users of virtual worlds.  One of the students interviewed for the purpose of the book explained that he used virtual worlds ten hours a day, seven days a week.  He missed classes, neglected his friends and his grades suffered.  Along the way he made some long-term online friends, but he lost his social skills.  In forming his argument, Weizenbaum was as accurate as Colby, but for different reasons.  Because addiction is a possibility, computer psychotherapy should never completely replace a psychiatrist.  Rather, Colby and Weizenbaum’s philosophies should be compromised for the rendering of a more balanced philosophy, one that balances the psychiatrist and the computer as mediums for psychotherapeutic help.  Virtual worlds should never allow you to forget about problems.  Rather, virtual worlds should supplement traditional ways of coping with life stresses.  Everyone should have access to virtual worlds in order to cope with the nuisance of life troubles.

It shall remain important to note, then, that virtual worlds shall continue to emulate a mode of self-expression, transcend the school of thought that one has but one identity, and elicit a hyper sense of control over situations.  These functions need not, and should not, replace a traditional psychiatrist who can truly analyze a person’s problems, but shall be used as a wherewithal for preliminary emotional needs.  If the need for therapy continues, further measures must be taken to prevent addiction to virtual worlds.  Thus, maintain a healthy diet of social interaction with humans, carry on day-to-day conversations with friends and see a psychiatrist if need be.  Computers are considered machines to think with, but they can hardly be classified as an entity that understands the human on an intricate level, which is why the psychiatrist should remain at the heart of therapeutic healing.