[MD] Food for Thought

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Dan]
Great questions. We construct roles and then call them real. In a sense they
are.

[Arlo]
In what sense _aren't_ they? This, I think, is the crux issue for what Turkle
calls the "decentralized self".

[Dan]
We here know Arlo's writings so if they suddenly seem out of character we'd
immediately search for rationalizations why. We hold each other in place, so to
speak.

[Arlo]
Exactly. I'd say what makes us sensitive to the pattern of expectation in
dialogue is precisely the history of negotiation of these identities. If I
suddenly break pattern, I am moving outside of established parameters for
negotiation. Then we can re-negotiate, break negotiations, or seek relapse back
to formerly agreed upon boundaries. In some sense this was captured by Berger
and Calabrese in their "Uncertainty Reduction Theory"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_reduction_theory). (URT has some
insights, but I personally don't feel it is as powerful a model as others).

[Dan]
I am sure this is so yet this insight is gained by a very small minority
compared to the number of players playing the games. Is the teenager who drops
out of school and spends every waking moment playing these RPG's gaining any
valuable insight? As a rule I tend to doubt it.

[Arlo]
No, I don't think the majority of these players are remotely concerned with
theories of identity construction, but it has given sociolinguists and cultural
psychologists a lot of clay to play with.

I'll tell you that I don't personally play (although I have "wasted" countless
hours playing Civilization and SimCity. But I have had kids in language classes
tell me that they were learning a language because people in their online
gaming worlds were from these places. Nothing drives language learning so great
as a personal desire to communicate with others.

But, while I think there is leverage to be had (historical simulations, for
example), and I think that there is a real, social, negotiative experience in
forging identity to be had, I think there are also negative aspects (such as
social withdrawl from other venues) that can impact the player. Have you seen
the South Park parody of World of Warcraft?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MywN5nSJhkA). It has a slightly annoying bit
before the theme music, but its quite funny.