Out of Touch

©JWL

Joel Mitchel was saying this morning:
"This is the first time in the history of humanity that the young are teaching their elders."

And I marveled at how awfully conceited that statement was.To think that 'Learning' was an asymmetrical activity.Especially coming from a man's whose modus operendi is to 'keep an open-mind.'
How many of us have taught our folks how to program the VCR?

But more critically, the statement echoes the same kind of 'avant-garde' bias Jason Lanier entertained in his article. Not only did it pigeonhole entire sectors of society, but he gladly began with himself as an Idealist / Revolutionary / Pioneer.

Truth is, the man is nearing his fifties and perhaps socially 'out of touch' with the majority of the public that he pertains to be speaking for. As Robert has eloquently underlined. I do think, however, that Mr. Lanier is more than a corporate sellout. Maybe his plentiful career in information technology and virtual reality has boxed him in the specificity of that experience. It just might differ from the common- denominator user's experience, who I doubt will be much inclined to pay for content. Isn't 'access to information' a recognized human right, here in North America?

People happily pay for content in certain Internet ecosystems, provided the ecosystems are delightful. People love paying for virtual art, clothing and other items in virtual worlds like Second Life, for instance.

Well maybe they do. Meanwhile, I stumbled on an interesting read, pure leisure, that partially explains why it is that some people are willing to invest in 'online merchandise'. The book is called A Theory of Fun for Game Design. It explains that people have different psychological dispositions. Some are synthetic, others empathetic; which has to do with how we learn, what side of the brain we use the most, gender stereotypes, etc.

I'm suggesting that empathetic people are more likely to purchase online material because they feel the need to bond with their character, their favorite band, the world at large even!

But that leaves all those synthetic people, will play and pay, only for a while. And eventually move on to something else once they've tired or mastered a given product. These people are much less likely to invest in short-term ventures, or do so sporadically.

This might be a stretch, but if we're going to make online advertising and remunerated content worthwhile, it would certainly help to know who your target audience is. And what makes them tick - beyond the limited spectrum of their immediate interests.