Like many of you '90s kids I wanted nothing else when I was little to collect as many of those shiny, monster animal cards -especially the ones that looked like dogs. When Pokemon go came out I downloaded it and caught my very first Pokemon: a Rhyhorn in my shower. I will admit it was highly novel: the sounds, the thrill of seeing my ball fly through the air and beam up the wild Pokemon in a blaze of light. It was make believe, made real! Little did I know that within the next two days the cultural consciousness of the USA would be gripped with the urge to 'Catch Em All.' Reports on NPR, the New York Times and my friends and family all had anecdotes Pokemon Go. It's the long dreamed of matrix of the Pokemon world.
Next came the questions:
"Wow, the map is so accurate how did they do that?"
"Does it have international release? It must have been so HARD to map London."
"How much does this app know about me??"
AND STOP.
Okay, before you throw the whole: "this is the 21st century, we've all signed our lives away digitally, so what?' pitch, think again. Even though our world is increasingly more digitized, there are things that one can do to prevent extraneous access of one's information. Some of it is only a few taps or installations away. Second, the faster internet gets, the shorter our attention spans become, as does our patience for making sure what we want quickly is safe for us and our information.
By making you sign in with Google, Niantic gained access to people's Gmail, Documents and Contacts. Now, only high level programs and apps like Google Chrome which I trust, should have that kind of access. I said this to someone I met at a yogurt place and he said since Chrome has all his info anyway, what's the difference of giving it to another company? 'If they sold my info, then I'd delete it,' he told me. Well, isn't it too late then? What is your risk margin? What would information would you trade to digitally chase after Pokemon who aren't even there?
The app has a ton of issues, has crashed multiple times and the game itself is very simple. Is it really worth risking your electronic safety, much less your physical safety by walking around with your face stuck in a four inch screen? Sure, it might be getting people outdoors who might have not, sure it's a good conversation pick up, but it is kind of pitiful that our society has been reduced to doing this because someone has created a game that allows us to vicariously, realistically chase after creatures that aren't even there. Talk about the matrix 'It's all in your phone Neo!'
C.S. Lewis, an Irish philosopher, thinker and professor once said this about people: "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (Weight of Glory).
Or try it like this: We are an apathetic people, fooling around with digital monsters, with Vines and snap stories and millennial dreams when a far better, authentic life is offered to us, like a stupid teenager who wants to go on getting high or playing Sim City 2 because he or she cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a sincere, authentic, reality full of real, physical people who care about one another and are willing to understand each other and create together. We are far too easily entertained." (attempted adaptation).
I deleted the app two and a half days after having it and have suffered no ill effects. I have made peace with my phone and my life. I did not miss my Evee, wish I had more egg incubators and certainly did not buy any poke coins, don't even know what they are. If the digital ownership of our lives is inevitable, I would rather rebelliously resist till the bitter end. They can drag me kicking and screaming into the digital world, but I'll always be picking the red pill.
