Don't worry, I am not going to just tell you about a tv show....this will go somewhere.
On an episode of the Adult Swim cartoon, Rick and Morty, the grandfather-grandson team are kidnapped and manipulated by aliens seeking the recipe for dark matter. Rick, being the genius he is, immediately knows that the aliens have created a rich simulation to try to trick Rick into revealing the recipe. Morty, initially confused, goes along with the simulation until Rick shows him the tell-tale signs simulated environments over actual, physical ones. The aliens pull the old "simulation-inside-a-simulation" trick on Rick, not only making him give up the recipe, but it is also revealed that Morty has been a simulation all along. Rick, always one step ahead, actually provided the aliens with a recipe for an explosive reaction, and well, the only aspect he didn't seem to see coming was that Morty would be part of the simulation as well. That evening, Rick, never the sentimental one, gets drunk and enters Morty's room. He hugs him, then pulls a knife, seemingly to test whether his Earth Morty is real or a simulation. Poor Morty is left shaking once Rick leaves.
The other character drawn up into the simulator somehow is Morty's loser father, Jerry. The aliens provide bare-bones simulation for Jerry's storyline, as not to have him interfere with their plans of tapping into Rick's mind. Jerry, his own worst enemy, has a personal breakthrough despite being in the most unoriginal and tell-tale simulation ever. When it is revealed that he's not actually experiencing any successes in his real life, he has a breakdown, cradling a simulated award until, that too, disappears.
The show is completely ridiculous and hysterical, but this episode made me pause. After viewing it, I couldn't help but think about it's reflection on modern society. The "realness" of the virtual experience is great while it lasts - Rick and Jerry both think they're in total control until they realize that the entire situation is predicated on falsehood. They both "break down" in different ways - with Rick's violent outburst and Jerry's self-loathing whimpering rounding out the possible spectrum of human responses to such a setback. We see this in real life too - from the loser, lone gunmen type who shoot up movie theaters and college campuses when they "don't get respect," to the dudes who reject women for not being porn star-esque, to the 33-year-old single women who constantly beat themselves up when scrolling through the profiles of their Facebook "friends" who post pictures of their weddings and babies. But, unlike a full-fledged simulation, which is designed to trick us into accepting it as reality, how do we become so invested in online virtual realities that we know we can walk away from to pursue different paths? What draws us into staying trapped within these patterns?
I don't know - but I am trying to understand why we do this to ourselves. Is the internet a new form of religion? Will we ever be able to break away from it controlling our lives? Is there a technological Reformation in our future? Will there be a Martin Luther of the internet?
This week, during a discussion on globalization, my students asked me how I survive without a smartphone. I laughed, but they were serious. And I think part of the reason is that I am OK with having to reflect and be alone with my thoughts. I don't need to have constant distraction. Due to my line of work, I am granted the opportunity to see thinking in action. I watch students' faces when I ask a question. For many, they just avert their eyes so that I do not call on them. They are clearly afraid to be left to thinking about something. This is nothing new. However, there is a change in that this look comes across their faces even when they are not posed with a problem to solve. Being left alone without stimulation has become the problem.
In the study hall period, when students can do homework, chat, draw, eat, knit, what have you, many, even if they do sit and talk, whip out their phones and scroll through Snapchat stories, Vine, Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook while they do. They're partially in a conversation with their neighbor, partially engaged with their virtual world. Why? Well, no more awkward pauses that are noticeable to everyone, because they're all multitasking. The entire scene, to the observer, is one long awkward pause, because they don't even realize how often they're not paying attention to what's going on in front of them. This happens in my office with adults as well - there are some points during the lunch period where 3 out of 6 people at the table are all of a sudden dead to the environment in front of them because they are so engaged with the device in their hand. It's kind of creepy, actually. I feel like I am just left as an observer of an alien race. And maybe if I had a smartphone I would be just like that, but I don't, so I am left to just witness it happening instead of partaking in the phenomenon. Let me tell you though - to be in this position is to experience a totally new kind of loneliness. One that makes me want to tweet at the world so that all of my thoughts and observations can be validated by all of my friends and online acquaintances? Not quite yet, but I can understand why that sounds appealing.
And I feel like I've seen all this before, in history, in some form or another, which leads me to ask is there Life on Mars? Check the lyrics and meaning.
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