Playing Games in the Future Now

[ThePixelatedGenocide]

I own a no wires virtual reality OLED system.

I'm pretty sure that 80's me would rank that pretty highly on a list of sci-fi future tech. Especially the part where I hung out in Star Wars, and then caught a concert in Japan.

Or the part where a golf game ended suddenly, because we accidentally discovered we could fly. And suddenly, the most exciting thing we could do was find out whether there was collision detection on the highest, furthest point in the distance.

And there was, because someone making the game wanted to fly there too.

Then there's the bit where Google translate does a good job of actually translating things, these days. And nobody pays it the slightest attention, because we take our miracles for granted.

The planet just seems a bit smaller and less mysterious.

And so do the people on it.

But that's not always a bad thing.

I prefer not to talk about some of the more serious health problems I face, mostly because this place is somewhere I can go to escape from them. But every single day that I experience, is a reminder that we're living in the future.

It's just that it was the same reminder as yesterday, and the day before. And the week prior, and months and years ago and so it just becomes part of the standard now...

And I think that's the problem with looking for the future. It's like chasing rainbows. By the time you can touch the future, it becomes the present, and then almost immediately becomes the past.

These days, more than the future not changing, what I really notice is how the past has stopped changing.

Remember when black and white photographs seemed distant and alien? Now we have full color video that never fades. Remember when you had to search for old music? Now millions of people search out videos of people hearing the classics for the first time, because they're too jaded to experience that rush of discovery for themselves.

We no longer have a very carefully crafted version of the past to define it. And so the years sometimes begin to blur into each other, a bit...

Especially for those of us, who are old enough to experience our time on this Earth, just rushing by...

But yeah, playing Baseball 2020 is even more of a blast now. And it's just as realistic as whatever Madden is doing to physics these days.

[Matchstick]

Then there's the bit where Google translate does a good job of actually translating things...

This is an excellent observation. While I haven't really given much thought to "modern miracles" through the course of this thread, I do have to say that I'm pretty happy with the so-called future that we're currently living in. The fact that we've managed to have cell phones, video calls, and universal translation integrated into society and ubiquitous as they are is very impressive, in my book. These are the type of things that seemed pretty far-fetched when they showed up on Star Trek back in the 60s, but nowadays, we all have access to them, at nearly any time that we want them.

As far as online translators, while the good far outweighs the bad, I have always felt that making an effort to learn a foreign language is one of the most rewarding tasks anyone can undertake. Let's be real: in many places in the world, you are more or less expected to know the languages of your neighboring countries, or know at least enough to make conversation and find your way around. Here in the US, that doesn't seem to be much of a priority for many native English-speakers. Yet, when someone from a foreign country moves here, many of us expect them to learn our language. Doesn't seem very fair, if you ask me.

Plus, many studies have linked learning a language to beneficial brain health, as it helps to re-enforce memory and recognition. It is also an activity that is generally understood to help prevent (or lessen the effects of) degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer's.

I know several people that have travelled to foreign countries without even attempting to learn the local language first. They get there, speak into their phone, and have that translate for them. Or they have someone there speak into their phone and have the phone translate that back into English. Many countries embrace this, even having menus in restaurants with QR codes that will translate them on the spot, or airports and train stations that do the same, or offer apps that display info in the user's native language.

While this is a very impressive use of technology, I also feel it enables the user to be, for lack of a better word, ignorant. I feel that one of the best experiences in traveling abroad is having that feeling of a stranger in a strange land, relying on what little you know of the language to find your way around and get by. This immersion is considered to be one of the best ways to learn a new language - just sort of jump in the deep end, and see if you can swim!

While it's incredible that one can travel nearly anywhere in the world and converse with nearly anyone there with the aid of technology, I also feel that the traveler who does this is cheating themselves, passing up an opportunity to challenge themselves to learn and adapt. Like many cases, technology can make something easier and more efficient, but not necessarily more fulfilling or satisfying.