by Darshan Chande
Limiting interaction with people – interacting more with real-world people (mostly a few close friends and relatives) and less (or not at all) with virtual-world people – is mentally very relieving. If you are addicted to virtual-world and mostly keeping in gloomy mood, try this therapy.
A few pointers —
One reason why I am saying all this is that there's a limit to how many friends a human mind can handle. Choices are good, but more-than-optimum number of choices (in people as well as in things) thwarts enjoyment.
Secondly, on Facebook, for example, you only see the good things about people. Or the things that they want others to know. Their best photos, their positive achievements, the best bits of their life,… The virtual identities are how people (including you and me) want themselves to appear, and not how they really are. A virtual image is a very carefully crafted self-image, which is not all there is to the person in reality.
When one is spending much of the time in the virtual world, one inadvertently starts to believe that's how the world really is. People are that intelligent and smart; life is that fun. And the comparison of one's real life happens with what one sees in the virtual world. If the difference between the real and the virtual world is not acknowledged, one often ends up feeling low and depressed after a long continued stay in the virtual world.
It's true that one can make really great friends online too. I myself have made a few great friends from the internet. But here my point is to understand also the perils of the system, and be aware of it when it does more harm than benefit.
[This article was originally posted on October 8, 2011 on Darshan's old blog which no longer exists.]
Limiting interaction with people – interacting more with real-world people (mostly a few close friends and relatives) and less (or not at all) with virtual-world people – is mentally very relieving. If you are addicted to virtual-world and mostly keeping in gloomy mood, try this therapy.
A few pointers —
- Abstain from rambling on social networks (Facebook, etc) and everything involving direct interaction with virtual-world people.
- Stop reading and commenting on personal blogs (where people share mundane events of their life) because you've got nothing to do with them virtual-world people.
- Read, surf meaningful websites where you gain knowledge/skill which refreshes or stimulates your mind in a positive way, and makes you productive rather than lethargic.
- Do not at all respond to or "like" other people's stuff on Facebook or blogs just because you want them to return the favors by doing the same to your stuff. Don't force yourself to do what you don't really like just for gaining popularity. Popularity gained thus is only the illusion of popularity, and a very fragile one.
- When too much emotions are sucked in by the virtual world, consider it red alert. Retract immediately.
- Remind yourself time and again: Virtual world is for fun, entertainment, learning etc., and not for getting malaise. People in the computer (well, most of them) don't matter. People in the real world are far more important.
One reason why I am saying all this is that there's a limit to how many friends a human mind can handle. Choices are good, but more-than-optimum number of choices (in people as well as in things) thwarts enjoyment.
Secondly, on Facebook, for example, you only see the good things about people. Or the things that they want others to know. Their best photos, their positive achievements, the best bits of their life,… The virtual identities are how people (including you and me) want themselves to appear, and not how they really are. A virtual image is a very carefully crafted self-image, which is not all there is to the person in reality.
When one is spending much of the time in the virtual world, one inadvertently starts to believe that's how the world really is. People are that intelligent and smart; life is that fun. And the comparison of one's real life happens with what one sees in the virtual world. If the difference between the real and the virtual world is not acknowledged, one often ends up feeling low and depressed after a long continued stay in the virtual world.
It's true that one can make really great friends online too. I myself have made a few great friends from the internet. But here my point is to understand also the perils of the system, and be aware of it when it does more harm than benefit.
[This article was originally posted on October 8, 2011 on Darshan's old blog which no longer exists.]
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