A few months ago I somehow ended up getting in a discussion with my brother's best friend, Tim about Second Life. I was basically talking about how amazed I was by how immersive it is, and how it is very easy to see how people see the lines blur between reality and their virtual representations.

We talked a bit about how each generation is getting farther and farther away from having to use real imagination or make real connections with the world. I was sort of taking the stance that although I didn't like where things were heading, that I can easily see why people are willing to make that leap.

Tim couldn't identify with that at all. I talked about how visually, the impact of viewing something like the Second Life environment was really stunning because you were actually seeing some strange things that you'd typically describe as exclusively human.... eye contact, body language, etc.

He was getting increasingly agitated by what I was saying, not really angry but you could tell he wasn't buying a word I was saying. He then surprised me by reaching out and grabbing the upper part of my arm and shoulder and looked at me in the eyes, and said "What about that? You'll never be able to have a computer do that, no matter how close it gets"

Now... I have a lot of faith in technology, in the sense that I don't see there to be an upper limit we'll ever find. But the closer we get to emulating pure realism, the farther away from reality we get. We can sell our minds the fantasy easier, but it only harms us more.

Maybe real life isn't as exciting as our imagination. Maybe it's becoming harder and harder to see the blurry lines between life experienced and life viewed. But you know what, Tim was right. There is a world of difference between virtual and real.