Customer Reviews

Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Virtual World. Emotion. Why do these two words seem so separate? Is it because the technology masks our emotions with a gilded frame of ones and zeros? Is it that we are surrounded by technology so much that we forget our own humanity? Is it as Thoreau said, that men have become the tools of their tools? Or is it instead that humanity is offering more of itself into the technology that it creates? Deep questions which are not often approached, and when they are approached they are not often approached wisely. What is an 'emotional future', and do I want one? Do I have a choice? People get uncomfortable with such questions. These are dangerous questions, which usually means that they are good questions.

Of course, I got a gold paper clip with the book. This was somewhat of a novelty for me, and also gave me pause.

When I looked at the cover of this book, these were things that I thought about a bit. I wasn't sure what to expect. Two blurry avatars kissing on the cover of the book hint at romance, a topic that I cannot comment on beyond half a life's sojourns. What is this about?

So, I read the book.

The book was a quick read. It was well written and, more importantly, easy to read. The large text hints that this is bifocal friendly, but what this reader liked was that it was just plain easy to read. So often books fail in the mechanics department by not catering to their business properly, and I was pleased and even encouraged to read this book after glancing in its covers. Large text is encouraging; it is the promise that the book is thinner than it looks - and it is fairly thin.

The reader takes a journey into the concept of a virtual world - but not through the technical explanations. Refreshingly, it simply said that virtual worlds are, that they exist, and that they are just as real to virtual world users as the rest of their lives. That virtual communities have become powerful on the internet, and that virtual worlds are a promise - and a premise - of things to come. That virtual worlds are tied to internet seems to go without saying, and yet so many people treat them as separate. The authors spared us this deviation, instead focusing on virtual worlds as a subset of the internet. This was refreshing.

The connections between technology and emotion are as well defined as the fuzzy nexus can be, and the authors managed to capture that with a basis in humanity and society rather than technology. This book isn't so much about virtual worlds as much as it is about real people being affected and perhaps changed by virtual worlds. The separation of brain, heart and gut resonates with a truth that cannot be measured empirically but will gain some nods from readers - and that forms a powerful base for the book itself.

From this basis in how we perceive the world around us, the book manages to make stops poignantly. Virtual worlds are approached as reality, then as new economies and new markets with potential for reinventing things. The second to last chapter - titled the same as the book title - brings it all together nicely, and the very last chapter is 'Virtual World Generated Fiction'.

In all, this book answered some of the questions I had when I looked at the cover - more importantly, it got me asking different questions. While short, this is a thought provoking book which promises much to the thoughtful. It is not a marketing book, it is not an economic paper - it is not a technology book. What this book is about is our use of technology and how technology affects us and connects us - perhaps even separating us in some instances. It carries with it some warnings of a future of controversy which transcends what we think normal now.

Overall, this book gets a KnowProSE.com 9 out of 10. It isn't for the experts; it was not written for experts. The book was - convincingly - written for the average person who would like to consider a future that has stealthily entered through the front door of millions of people, disguised as entertainment. Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future is a preview of coming attractions which only guides the imagination on the rails provided by a reality which is not so virtual anymore.

Myers' Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future offers parents and would-be parents essential insight for understanding their children's fascination with virtual worlds. He explains why the generations born in the 21st century are learning to listen to their heart and gut and act on their emotions rather than depending almost exclusively on their brains. This subtle shift, which Myers calls rewiring the emotional DNA, will alter relationships, marketing, business, culture and society. For parents who are nervous about their children's relationship with media, this is a must-read.

Jack Myers quickly sets the stage to introduce the growing impact and cultural acceptance of living in a "virtual world" through the Internet. He allows the reader to see this phenomenon as a new society in formation. It's a little scary, yet thrilling as he describes its impact on today's lifestyles looking into the future.

I believe the book's description of the influence and interdependence of the brain, the heart, and the gut in all humans is brilliant! It allows the reader ro understand how thoughts and emotions interact, and their importance in motivating, impeding or re-directing basic decision-making.

Once again, Myers proves his uncanny ability at blazing trails all of us need to follow, through this small but powerful book.

Kenneth Marks
Principal
Kenneth L. Marks Consulting
Del Mar, Ca.

I found the book a bit superficial. There book is based in one argument: western culture favors rationality and represses emotions and gut feelings. This repression makes our lives unbalanced and repressed. Virtual worlds liberate us by allowing us to act on our emotions and gut feelings not our reason. I think there is something to this argument; our lives are unbalanced and repressed, but it is not that simple. It is just not true that western society represses emotions over reason as you can tell by watching any tv commercial and any political campaign where everything is about making you feel right, not about thinking or using your reason.
This only idea in the book is acompannied by a lot of blah, blah, blah, and a lot of pictures from Second Life. However the book is unexpensive, and an easy and quick read, so if you want to hear a little more about second life, and have a few dollars and a couple of hours to spare, this might be your book.

As a futurist, I am always looking at developing trends, recognizing patterns and developing a sense of what might be around the corner for us all. I was therefore aware of the phenomenon of "Second Life" but had yet to spend the necessary time to explore it. I was not quite sure why it was fast becoming a phenomenon. Virtual Worlds:Rewiring Your Emotional Future not only made me understand this virtual world, it placed it in the larger context I had been searching for. Simply put, our future is an emotional one with emotional connections brought into commerce.
I have been reading Jack Myers for years, and have learned that most of his predictions and positions prove to be correct. He is ahead of the curve. That means that I did come preconditioned to believe what he writes.
This is an excellent introduction to the virtual and emotional future of all of us.

As someone who basically uses the internet to check e-mail and look for restaurants, I was initially worried that I wouldn't completely understand this book's content. I was wrong -- and fascinated. I finished this book in just a few hours. Myers predicts a future where living in alternate realities is commonplace. It's like My Space or Face Book on mushrooms. This book will expand your ideas about what your life can be. No more self-help books necessary ... you'll be able to create your own reality. An important read for everyone!

I'm not sure what the other reviewers think is "well written" but this is not my idea. The book seems to contain a series of blogs that Jack Myers had written on his [...] web site. I'm not sure what the second author did because fact checking was not one of them. The author cites E. Castronova's work in the field of synthetic reality but says E.C. is from the University of Indiana. "Indiana University" is, I'm just guessing here, world known. There is no University of Indiana.
About parents needing this to help their kids. "Hey parents and kids, don't ever provide your password to anyone making a request. Period." That's the one message useful in this book. And hey Bluebird, sorry, your mom doesn't know how to prevent being Internet roadkill any more than you do.
Going to [...] and [...] and reading about the sites will be much better use of time and money.
Oh, I forgot: Jack lets you know that many of his interviews are "exclusive."
This book has 150 pages. Once you consider the pictures of SecondLife and the large text, it might be about 78 pages.
Some self-published books really are OK. Just not this one.

Myers and Weinstein do a really terrific job as our guides to the future. It would have been easy to just provide an overview of these new virtual worlds and make a few projections. Instead, they've taken the time to talk about brain science and emotions and then with a new platform for thinking, discuss some of the business opportunities. Given their experience as well-regarded media consultants and business journalists, they bring great perspective forward when talking about relationship building and the role of advertisers in the future. If you're looking to understand who these virtual worlds and their impact on us and business you'll be glad you bought this book.

Myers' book engages the reader with very expansive predictions on the coming changes in human social interaction, which the author manages to present in extraordinarily subtle ways. More of a philosophical discourse than an essay, Myers book manages to engage the reader in a very provocative dialectic without the reader initially realizing such. Very descriptive despite its compactness, the commentary is quietly but firmly inquisitive in ways that engage the reader beyond its instructiveness.

On the surface Myers discussion is of how humans interact with one another in simulated worlds, but far more profoundly, he mounts an almost-disconcerting discussion of how these changes will alter the way in which people are going to interact with *themselves*.

The book is a prediction (harbinger perhaps) of the ways that previous concepts of social fabric will change as people interact in the world of dreams -- but only as an allegory of interacting in worlds comprised pure *self*, unfettered by any limitations of identity. With great delicateness, Myers suggests how this unfettered self may also self-actualize, both as its own identity and also as a symbiote of the real self -- and perhaps even an adversary.

Myers leaves his book open ended, which is perhaps the only obvious allusion in the book -- that there is much more yet to come.