I’ve heard some crazy stories over the years but this might top them all. CNN reports that police have arrested a South Korean couple whose toddler starved to death while they were raising a virtual child online.
The couple fed their 3-month-old daughter once a day between marathon stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy role-playing game, Prius Online, police told local reporters Friday.
After a 12-hour stint online at a cyber cafe they found their baby dead. The autopsy blamed malnutrition and dehydration. A police officer said the parents “Seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life because they didn’t have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby.” Consequently, “They indulged themselves in the online game of raising a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby.”
I have a feeling this couple must have some serious mental issues but William Saletan of Slate Magazine warns…
Maybe this is just a weird story about a sick couple on the other side of the planet. But look in the mirror. Every time you answer your cell phone in traffic, squander your work day on YouTube, text a colleague during dinner, or turn on the TV to escape your kids, you’re leaving this world. You’re neglecting the people around you, sometimes at the risk of killing them.
The problem isn’t that you’re a bad or weak person. It’s worse than that. The problem is that all of us are susceptible to being drawn into other worlds, and other worlds are becoming ever more compelling. In the old days, imaginary friends had to be imagined. Now you can see and interact with them. In cyberspace, they exist. They’re more alluring and less flawed than your friends in the physical world. And thanks to artificial intelligence and three-dimensional graphics, they’re becoming quite lifelike.
So what do you think? Just a story about a couple with serious mental challenges or is there a legitimate warning for people who increasingly communicate and create community online?
