The Things You Own Ends Up Owning You


It's no secret that I am a fan of "Fight Club" as I have been cited saying the movie and the character Tyler Durden changed how I view life. No I never took the movie literal, but rather it made me think of "Power and Choice" in our every waking moment. We choose everything we do and that is what makes us who we are. Now when I'm mad, sad, or happy i can easily ask myself "Why?" This allows me to control my actions rather than instantly reacting out of emotions. So you have power in your life by controlling yourself.

However I never took one of Tyler Durden's (Brad Pitt's) most famous lines into consideration until recently. "The things you own end up owning you." I mean when this movie first came out (1998) cell phones, internet, social media, online gaming, and many other electronics did not exist in the way they do today. They are now integral to our everyday life. Even as I type this I am in fact on the internet talking to you at this very moment. We are truly in the Cyber-Generation.

I never actually gave this much thought until the recent Xbox One unveiling. This has brought to my attention that we have people being defined by a product. Something that I never actually noticed. Example being a PlayStation, Nintendo, or Xbox fanboy. This goes so far that we literally say it is a "War" and the consumers are "The Soldiers". Am I the only one that sees a problem with that? This becomes a problem where that person no longer owns his/her console, rather the console owns them and we fight for those corporations that make them instead of enjoying games because they are fun. Now this is not to say preferences will not take place, after all we all have opinions. I mean I like the color blue more than pink, but I also don't fight for that color as if it defines me. I think there is a huge difference between a fanboy and a fan that likes console 'A' more than console 'B'. Fanboys act like soldiers. Fans with preferences doesn't.

To continue this even further can we live without computers, phones, and social media? Yes we can but I think that a huge backlash would happen if we were without these things. WALL-E is another movie that shows the control that electronics has over us pointing out that we rely on technology so much that one day it may cause serious issues to the human-race with physical activity. I mean 15 years ago we barely even had mobile phones. Now if a cell phone tower goes out for even an hour people freak out. Many people even believe that social websites is damaging the way we interact and talk to each other in real life. For example I can't even tell you how many times I would go out on a date with a girl and the entire time she will not tell me how she feels. However after the date is over she will text me afterwards telling me how she feels whether it is good or bad. Psychologically I believe this stems from it being easier to deal with reactions behind written words than dealing with the possible embarrassment in person. Messaging has also seemed to create a different persona in many different people due to the fact that you can think about what you say rather than instantly reacting in a voice conversation. These situations are rampant across social conversations whether it be passive aggressive comments on facebook or a simple "I like you" over a text. And now while WALL-E is a Disney movie that kids love it can be argued that we are headed down that path as the obesity rate is increasing yearly not just through "America" but the entire world. And yes we can blame this on many things besides technology but I'd have to say that technology probably does hold a small role in the increase.

 
Now with all that said I am not saying technology is evil, far from it. I love technology and that is pretty obvious but I do believe people need to be aware that these things are just products or software and not something that makes them who they are. We can live without these products and they do not define who we are. You are not your phone, you are not your console, you are not your computer. You are you, and you control you. Yes these things are a part of our life but do not let these things define you.

And yes I do tend to over think things so maybe this is just another one of those times. Still I wanted to write my thought down and hear what others think.

-JayWood2010

I play Nintendo games because I think they are fun.

Interesting...interesting...

Yeah no, Microsoft is TRYING to own people that buy Xbones. Staying away from that thing. This has nothing to do with console loyality, this is a response to the NSA PRISM thing, the verizon thing, that Kinect Data mining stuff.

I'm worried that some unsuspecting people will buy an Xbone unknowingly putting them in the hands of Microsoft's policies. That's why we're making a loud of a sound as possible.

If only people on the hardcore forums care and they rest don't, then we'll be damn sure we try to be loud enough so they at least give a listen before they make any rash decisions

Yes we're overly loud. Obnoxious even. But hell, people deserve to KNOW about this before getting into it. If that's what it takes I don't care if I sound like an angry raging internet prick. I will scream.

Oh yes, I will do everything in my power to make people know exactly what the implications are. This whole incident with the intelligence leak stuff only strengthens my resolve to get the word out. 

This is "a girl worth fighting for".

Not really buying it as the console war has been around way before the X1 fiasco.  Anyways, this goes well beyond consoles.  

I don't agree.

Do you have any reason or just because Im JayWood? lol  but seriosly a little more intelligent response would be nice rather than saying you disagree.  Seeing as I touched up on technology is starting to control us I assume that is what you are saying you disagree with?  If so why do you?

Cats! They end up owning you

Between angels and insects was a good song.

Was really hoping for some intelligent feedback and instead i only have one person who put in effort -_-