Pokemon Go.

[Woodsman]

I haven't even begun to properly unpack this piece of cultural weirdness, but I figured it might be a good idea to start up a short thread on the subject. I'd be very interested to hear people's thoughts on this.

My initial impression...

This cell phone game gets people used to the idea of interacting with a reality choc-full of otherwise invisible, weird spirit beings around us all the time. (Which are used for make-believe cock fighting or something? I've never played.)

-Anyway, the thing which strikes me is that this particular awareness-shifting program, (if it IS that), is unprecedented. It's a culture-wide phenomenon, and *everybody* with an internet connection is affected to some degree by the sudden invitation/requirement to think in a hyper-dimensional way.

Now.., is this deliberate, or just a psychic ripple effect as the actual veils between 3D and 4D grow thin? A way of the collective conscious trying to pull the body into a new reality?

Or is there some darker angle?

I recall the C's talking about underground bases, with 3D builds which map to 4D counterparts, and thus (inadvertently?) creating permanent 4D zones.

Thoughts..?

 

[Mikey]

Seems like one more step to make people lose touch with reality by distracting them. If that goes further, it could be similar to what the video shows in the first post of the Living in Augmented Reality thread.

The C's have pointed out how important it is to pay attention to reality left and right. Augmented reality technology can be useful in that respect, but I doubt that Pokemon apps will help anybody.

 

[Carl]

IMO people who were not born between 1990-1995 will not understand the game. Pokemon was a big deal when we were kids.

This cell phone game gets people used to the idea of interacting with a reality choc-full of otherwise invisible, weird spirit beings around us all the time. (Which are used for make-believe cock fighting or something? I've never played.)

-Anyway, the thing which strikes me is that this particular awareness-shifting program, (if it IS that), is unprecedented. It's a culture-wide phenomenon, and *everybody* with an internet connection is affected to some degree by the sudden invitation/requirement to think in a hyper-dimensional way.

Now.., is this deliberate, or just a psychic ripple effect as the actual veils between 3D and 4D grow thin? A way of the collective conscious trying to pull the body into a new reality?

Or is there some darker angle?

I recall the C's talking about underground bases, with 3D builds which map to 4D counterparts, and thus (inadvertently?) creating permanent 4D zones.

I think you're thinking a bit too much into it, though I could be wrong. Basically it's a game that uses your map location to give you creatures to catch. They're not weird spirit beings, it's just a game on a phone, and you have to move around and go to certain locations in real life in order to play it, as opposed to other games where you sit at a computer.

My thoughts are it has had massive success because of how many people know about pokemon and how fun the original games were. And it's kind of funny and addictive, and you can meet people who also play it (not in short supply). I think it's dangerous in practice because you can't be aware of your surroundings and play a game at the same time. Plus obviously it's a game, so is basically a waste of time.

 

[Woodsman]

IMO people who were not born between 1990-1995 will not understand the game. Pokemon was a big deal when we were kids.

I think you're thinking a bit too much into it, though I could be wrong. Basically it's a game that uses your map location to give you creatures to catch. They're not weird spirit beings, it's just a game on a phone, and you have to move around and go to certain locations in real life in order to play it, as opposed to other games where you sit at a computer.

My thoughts are it has had massive success because of how many people know about pokemon and how fun the original games were. And it's kind of funny and addictive, and you can meet people who also play it (not in short supply). I think it's dangerous in practice because you can't be aware of your surroundings and play a game at the same time. Plus obviously it's a game, so is basically a waste of time.

When millions of people suddenly start adopting new behaviors all at the same time... In this day and age?

Any remarkable change of social behavior can be explained in a mundane manner if you want to normalize and ignore it. -Or can be over-emphasized if one is looking to create dramatic headlines.

The question is.., which is it?

Personally, I think video games are a clear example of a deliberate and stupendous feat of social engineering, one which has had powerful cascading effects experienced all across the human spectrum. When another permutation like this one comes along, I become intrigued and do tend to push into the boundaries wrt to possible reasons and logical extensions in the hopes that something will help make sense of it all.

 

[Scottie]

I watched a YouTube vid yesterday about some guy asking people in NYC if they were playing Pokemon Go. I tried to find it again, but it's not in my YouTube history since I watched it embedded on another site (I guess).

Anyway, at one point the guy asks a girl if she thinks there is a downside to playing, and she replies something like, "No, because right now things are pretty crazy in the world, so it helps people calm down and relax."

Well, sure... But it also helps them zone out and not pay any attention to what's happening in the world!!!

One young guy said he plays from 6am until midnight, and then he showed his extra battery pack connected by USB cable to his phone so he can play all day.



So, I think the overall effect is dissociation on a massive scale - pure and simple.

Recently, many people I know have expressed their worries to me about the state of the world. These are people who formerly didn't notice that kind of thing very much. I think many people are desperate for relief from the "growing pains" the world is currently going through.

 

[Keit]

I think many people are desperate for relief from the "growing pains" the world is currently going through.

Indeed. But I also find it interesting that these are mostly young people (the ones who play Pokemon Go). What I wonder is how "older generations" deal with the increasing pressure? Or to be exact, what kind of distractions they use or are used against them in order to escape it? Unless they don't feel such a strong need to do it? If so, it just shows how bleak and dystopian will be the future of mankind. If Mother Nature won't reset the entire process before that, that is.

 

[Carl]

When millions of people suddenly start adopting new behaviors all at the same time... In this day and age?

Any remarkable change of social behavior can be explained in a mundane manner if you want to normalize and ignore it. -Or can be over-emphasized if one is looking to create dramatic headlines.

The question is.., which is it?

Personally, I think video games are a clear example of a deliberate and stupendous feat of social engineering, one which has had powerful cascading effects experienced all across the human spectrum. When another permutation like this one comes along, I become intrigued and do tend to push into the boundaries wrt to possible reasons and logical extensions in the hopes that something will help make sense of it all.

Technology seems to offer a much more rich dissociating experience - they come out with something more gripping every few years. People have been looking forward to full on virtual-reality for a very long time, and this game is like a stepping stone it seems. I can totally relate because the world is actually terrifying right now if you feel it head on. Although it's even more terrifying if you have some awareness of the actual conspiracies and how asleep everyone else is. That is a fear that we try to embrace, but most people understandably would want to get away from :(.

I guess the end result is something like this. Let's hope we never see the day:

 

[Keit]

Totally crazy. Who needs sophisticated methods of propaganda or brainwashing, when there is Pokemon Go?

https://youtu.be/DoWe5G7wCNA

 

[Kika]

For this topic I will take the role of a paranoid person.

As I read this text: Pokemon GO, you have to collect all, the game developed by the government to control and supervision

http://www.4dportal.com/hr/zavjere/4264-pokemon-go-moras-skupit-sve-igra-koju-je-izradila-vlada-u-svrhu-kontrole-i-nadzora

which tells you how to install the game should be given all the powers of your phone and full access to the Google account and so on.

Persons entering private homes and courtyards, hospitals and all other places, in the alleged search of Pokemon, and in this there is the possibility of video recording everything. What kind of information can be collected and who should be sent not entirely clarified.

For details, which are presented in this article do not know if they are correct, but should definitely look at this phenomenon also from this perspective.

 

[Hindsight Man]

When cassies said that our computers would overtake us,I didn't get it.Even when it was later clarified in another session I still failed to understand it until I saw this pokemon go madness.You have hundreds,in some cases thousands of people gathering,looking at their phones and disregarding the world around them.Now I play video games,quite a bit actually.I enjoy it,but when I close the game on my computer,it's over.The game's done.These people seem to not realize the difference between what matters (the real world) and the game.You have people breaking in to other people's back yards to catch rare pokemon.They climb into zoos and hospitals,they congregate in large masses at 2 or 3 am causing a lot of noise (there was an incident recently in Oz where they were making so much noise in a residential area that some guy dressed in Mad Max gear and started swinging a broom with barbed wire on it to clear out these zombies) and generally being completely inconsiderate.All that matters to them is the next catch.''Gotta catch ' em all''.Take a look at a zombie movie and watch the undead break into places like hospitals or police stations.Look familiar?

It's utterly insane.I like an immersive game like anyone else (though never got into pokemon) but my jaw dropped over the last few days as reports started coming in of injuries and deaths as well as all kind of unpleasant behavior.I dunno why,but this in particular seems so crazy to me.I guess it's mostly because when people obsessed with a game in the past,they'd buy or make a costume of their favorite character and go show it off at comic con or something.Now we have people congregating in the dark trying to break into private properties.

 

[Woodsman]

Whoa. A picture is worth a thousand words, indeed! =Shudder=.

I came across these a while back; Keit's Central Park video reminded me of it...

 

[Woodsman]

When cassies said that our computers would overtake us,I didn't get it.Even when it was later clarified in another session I still failed to understand it until I saw this pokemon go madness.You have hundreds,in some cases thousands of people gathering,looking at their phones and disregarding the world around them.Now I play video games,quite a bit actually.I enjoy it,but when I close the game on my computer,it's over.The game's done.These people seem to not realize the difference between what matters (the real world) and the game.You have people breaking in to other people's back yards to catch rare pokemon.They climb into zoos and hospitals,they congregate in large masses at 2 or 3 am causing a lot of noise (there was an incident recently in Oz where they were making so much noise in a residential area that some guy dressed in Mad Max gear and started swinging a broom with barbed wire on it to clear out these zombies) and generally being completely inconsiderate.All that matters to them is the next catch.''Gotta catch ' em all''.Take a look at a zombie movie and watch the undead break into places like hospitals or police stations.Look familiar?

It's a little over-dramatic, but these do well to capture the painter's feelings on the subject.

 

[neema]

For this topic I will take the role of a paranoid person.

As I read this text: Pokemon GO, you have to collect all, the game developed by the government to control and supervision

http://www.4dportal.com/hr/zavjere/4264-pokemon-go-moras-skupit-sve-igra-koju-je-izradila-vlada-u-svrhu-kontrole-i-nadzora

which tells you how to install the game should be given all the powers of your phone and full access to the Google account and so on.

Persons entering private homes and courtyards, hospitals and all other places, in the alleged search of Pokemon, and in this there is the possibility of video recording everything. What kind of information can be collected and who should be sent not entirely clarified.

For details, which are presented in this article do not know if they are correct, but should definitely look at this phenomenon also from this perspective.

I don’t get it. I always thought Pokémon was some kids cartoon. Like sesame street.

But these are adults participating.

Programing complete I guess.

I do agree that its mass appeal is like a digital drug used for escapism. Video games, much like visual entertainment, are tools. Just like anything else they can be used for positive purposes or negative ones.

With the multifaceted coordinated attack on people’s psyche, when people’s dreams and hopes are subdued or diverted, what we see is very enviable.

It is very sad.

The late Tupac Shakur said it best in one of his songs:
“Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right”

 

[Hindsight Man]

When cassies said that our computers would overtake us,I didn't get it.Even when it was later clarified in another session I still failed to understand it until I saw this pokemon go madness.You have hundreds,in some cases thousands of people gathering,looking at their phones and disregarding the world around them.Now I play video games,quite a bit actually.I enjoy it,but when I close the game on my computer,it's over.The game's done.These people seem to not realize the difference between what matters (the real world) and the game.You have people breaking in to other people's back yards to catch rare pokemon.They climb into zoos and hospitals,they congregate in large masses at 2 or 3 am causing a lot of noise (there was an incident recently in Oz where they were making so much noise in a residential area that some guy dressed in Mad Max gear and started swinging a broom with barbed wire on it to clear out these zombies) and generally being completely inconsiderate.All that matters to them is the next catch.''Gotta catch ' em all''.Take a look at a zombie movie and watch the undead break into places like hospitals or police stations.Look familiar?

It's a little over-dramatic, but these do well to capture the painter's feelings on the subject.

I beg to differ.I'd say it's not dramatic enough.Perhaps that's just me though.When people say ''I'm shocked'' outside this forum they usually mean ''I'm unpleasantly surprised''.Well I personally AM in a state of shock.This has completely knocked me off my feet.It's a completely voluntary zombification on the part of these people and if you refuse it they laugh at you and assume you're pretending to be more mature than them.I'm starting to wonder if it's a mass possession or something similar that would take away what's left of people's critical faculties so quickly.I mean,all these reports of injuries and unlawful conduct are only going to intensify. :O

 

[Beau]

I think many people are desperate for relief from the "growing pains" the world is currently going through.

Indeed. But I also find it interesting that these are mostly young people (the ones who play Pokemon Go). What I wonder is how "older generations" deal with the increasing pressure? Or to be exact, what kind of distractions they use or are used against them in order to escape it? Unless they don't feel such a strong need to do it? If so, it just shows how bleak and dystopian will be the future of mankind. If Mother Nature won't reset the entire process before that, that is.

In my area at least, there are plenty of older people playing this crazy game. If it's a game that can be played on a mobile phone, people of all ages are playing it all the time and dissociating. Pokemon Go is new and everyone wants to play the new game, young or old.