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Nice effort at defending life in make believe! But it just doesn't hold water. Referring to my original post: --- The real failure of those lost in make belie

by johnea 2y ago

Nice effort at defending life in make believe! But it just doesn't hold water. Referring to my original post: --- The real failure of those lost in make believe is that actual reality is about a billion times more engaging and offers about a trillion times the opportunity to see expanded horizons. --- No one has to give up "natural sparks" or "achievable goals", in fact so much is gained by "facing reality" that loss of fictional childhood dreams is a welcome release that allows realization of real plans and aspirations. The idea that living in Dungeons and Dragons world is going to enable anyone to change the real world is just... childish. Grow Up! The real world will be there waiting for you. Because, that's all there actually is...

cosmic_cheese 2y ago
My point is that people cannot manifest that which they cannot imagine, and the system as it’s currently structured crushes imagination and packs it away into the box of “childish” fiction. All those opportunities you’ve mentioned get boxed up along with that, because they don’t align with any of the paths prescribed by society. They’re viewed as unreachable fantasies. People still have a drive to procure agency in their lives though, and so instead of pursuing opportunities in real life (which they’ve been told is unrealistic), they live them out in mediums that give them permission to do so, like video games, TV shows, and books. So ironically, if we want to encourage people to get their head out of the clouds and pursue their goals, telling them to grow up is the least productive thing one could possibly do. A much more productive message would be one of empowerment — that dreams don’t have to remain dreams, that it’s ok to take risks, try things, and potentially fail, and that everybody has some amount of power to shape their own reality.

by johnea 2y ago

cosmic_cheese 2y ago

My point is that people cannot manifest that which they cannot imagine, and the system as it’s currently structured crushes imagination and packs it away into the box of “childish” fiction. All those opportunities you’ve mentioned get boxed up along with that, because they don’t align with any of the paths prescribed by society. They’re viewed as unreachable fantasies. People still have a drive to procure agency in their lives though, and so instead of pursuing opportunities in real life (which they’ve been told is unrealistic), they live them out in mediums that give them permission to do so, like video games, TV shows, and books. So ironically, if we want to encourage people to get their head out of the clouds and pursue their goals, telling them to grow up is the least productive thing one could possibly do. A much more productive message would be one of empowerment — that dreams don’t have to remain dreams, that it’s ok to take risks, try things, and potentially fail, and that everybody has some amount of power to shape their own reality.