Prompt :
Choose one of the essays that we read for the Pop Culture Unit (except for The Worst Years of Our Lives). Reread the essay carefully and then write an essay in which you support, refute, or qualify the author's assertions. Support your argument with appropriate evidence.
Essay:
Joseph Ostuno
AP Language and Composition
Pop Culture Essay
12/3/15
Video Game Verisimilitude
Real-life extremists have theorized, anticipated and in many cases even prematurely prepared for the event of a Zombie Apocalypse. Although their thoughts and actions seem impractical and ridiculous, they may not be completely erroneous; they may simply be described as radical. Video games have turned many of the people you may consider friends, coworkers or even family into "zombies" fixated and entranced by the games that they play and in many cases, these people completely disregarding real life. Jane McGonigal, noticed the strength of the appeal of video games as a constructive pastime, yet, she fails to recognize its addictive qualities. As she depicts, it is the ability to participate in more exciting, or even fanatical events than what can be safely achieved in real life. Unfortunately, the excitement is not without cost, a double-edged sword between desideratum and desire where people often choose to spend their precious time on video games rather than spending that time sustaining their own health.
Nearly 50% of diagnosed cases of malnutrition and malnourishment don't come from penury. This large percentage come from two types of people. The first type is those who spend all their time working and have no time to balance their nutrition. And the second type may have the time, but choose to spend that time fighting dragons and leveling up their virtual guise leaving them without time to eat properly. With regards to the latter, the disease is entirely preventable with little effort. Nevertheless, the addiction they suffer, not unlike that of alcohol or illegal drugs, leads them to play with their lives frivolously.
An old children's book called, "The Wretched Stone", familiar among many teachers and students alike, portrays the effects of television on a crew of sailors. The author intertwines strong symbolism with an impressionable theme regarding the laziness that television provides causing the sailors to become apes and no longer interact or eat. They become mindless and simple beings, with one small objective, to continue staring at "the box". While it may be objected that television and video games are two different entities, the argument is contradictory. Video games are even more addictive than television because they are more interactive, providing a much stronger allure. Also, video games raise a much greater risk to health. While it is possible to eat and watch television, it is not as easily possible to do the same with video games. To many addicts, eating is nothing more than an inconvenience required to keep playing.
Jane McGonigal makes a radical claim by saying "The truth is this; in today's society, computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy." Her "truth" completely disregards any logic. According to NASA, the only things necessary to fulfill "genuine human needs" are: "energy sources (food, plants, the Sun), nutrients, water, oxygen and a moderate temperature." Video games and computers provided nothing that helps sustain life unless the warmth emitted from a computer is what regulates a human's body temperature. On the other hand, the things many gamers exclude from their daily lives (such as food, water, or even sunlight) play a large impact on their health. Vitamin D deficiency has risen 23% since 1950, which ironically was the time at which the amount of vitamin D was standardized in food products. The cause of this increase is most likely linked to the increase in sedimentary lifestyles, which video games, by nature, attribute to.
A very common saying from parents to their children is, "Go play outside." This saying is a direct impact of video games. Children no longer have motivation to spend time outside because video games can provide the same experience without the effort. This situation has flipped entirely on its head in the last generation where parents would have had to drag their kids inside for dinner. For this reason, it's appalling to hear people complain about childhood obesity when the causation is so blatant. Video games may not be the only contributing factor with regards to obesity, but they're not without blame. The average American may be quick to throw McDonalds or other fast food restaurants under the bus, without the introspecting upon their own households and children.
Video games can also be the cause of corruption in many childrens' lives. Where once there was creative thinking and imagination, quick reaction shooting games have taken the place. A scientific study conducted by Harvard professors suggests that the increase in video game violence can have lasting effects on young children (below the age of 12) and more controversial studies even correlate the introduction to violent video games with the likelihood to commit crime. The most famous of these studies most likely involving Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza. While these studies are simply correlations and do not demonstrate any means to prove causation, the fact that studies have been conducted on this topic alludes to another underlying danger of video games. Irrelevant of the risks, video game sales skyrocket annually, each year nearly doubling the previous.
McGonigal makes many strong points regarding the growth of video game purchases, and the trends regarding the disconnection from society. She even mentions that many of the world's most potent savants will choose to devote their greatest efforts to video games. Consequentially she ignores the negative effects this could cause our society. It is possible that the world may soon experience a technological void where we no longer advance, rather, we spend our time advancing in a virtual world, making a difference in a virtual world, living in a virtual world and forgetting what life is actually like. People may no longer experience the true thrills of life but opt for the same feeling in a virtual world while their physical bodies suffer. To say that this is dangerous is an understatement; life as we know it, or even life in general, will soon become nothing more than a collection of data chips and pixels.
Bibliography
"Violent Video Games and Young People." - Harvard Health. Harvard University, 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
Chaussee, Amberlee. Astro-Venture Astronomy Lessons (n.d.): n. pag.Astronomy Training Module. NASA, 1 Nov. 2001. Web.
Holick, Michael F., and Tai C. Chen. "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Vitamin D Deficiency: A Worldwide Problem with Health Consequences. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
