In the most uncertain time in decades, my schedule has become more repetitive than ever.
Wake up at 9:30, 8:30 if I wanna go for a run, get breakfast before it closes at 10:30. That may be the only time I go outside that day. I bring it back to my room, eat it, brush my teeth, and play Xbox or watch YouTube (usually both) until class starts at 11:15 or 30. From there, I go through all my classes, doing school stuff in between and after. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I might not get done until 7; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays usually end by 3.
My entire life now, along with so many people, is in my room behind a screen. But right now, it's not half bad.
Being a film major and a gamer, being antisocial, and plugged into a device constantly is nothing new to me, but society requires it now. If you somehow didn't have a phone or a computer or internet access before, you need one now fool. I've recently also realized that my entire disposable income flows through my phone.
It's cool, but it's also scary isn't it? Everyone has different ideas of what the world may be, but recently I listened to a podcast with a man named John Carmack. A genius programmer who was a founder of id Software, the studio behind the original Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and QUAKE, as well as a rocket scientist and the man behind the Oculus Rift. The latter of which by the way, meaning VR, has become his sole focus. In this podcast, he talks about how human beings have always changed the world around us to our will, there's evidence of it everywhere. And that virtual reality is the next step in that. He says that it should progress to the point where it can be something you can bring with you on a train, the way you would bring your phone or, like, a Nintendo Switch around.
In a sense, my room, and many other people's rooms, have become makeshift, virtual reality 'pods.' If I wanna go to the wild west, I'll just get sucked into Red Dead Redemption 2 for however long I want. If I wanna be in the mob, I'll start The Sopranos or The Irishman, if I wanna go to a jungle at night I'll turn off the lights and watch Night on Earth. If I wanna be an ancient, dragon-slaying hero, Skyrim isn't going anywhere.
It's incomprehensible the number of experiences and feelings and even memories we can have of entertainment like movies and video games, just like, if not more than in real life for some people. For some people, they're better than the ones in real life. I imagine that's also the case now for most people in the ongoing pandemic. I wonder how far it could go now, with the need to warp your personal space around you into whatever you need it to be, because you may have to be stuck there to avoid another pandemic-like event.
