Manovich: Thurs 1pm section

While reading Manovich's "Navigatable Space", I found the section about the distinction between reality and virtual reality in video games specifically intruiging. Manovich says, "instead of creating virtual spaces that have nothing to do with actualy physical spaces, or spaces that are closely modeled after existing physical structyures, such as towns or shopping malls, we may take the middle road." I immediately took this perception of virtual realties and connected it to a show I saw recently called 'True Life: I'm addicted to video games'. My initial feeling about people addicted to video games do so to escape their own reality. However, Manovich's passage helped me understand that it's not only escaping our own reality, but being involved in a whole separate reality within the mind.
Virtual reality can trap the mind into a blurred sense of distinction between the two. In doing so, players engage in a new reality and begin to feel as if they are truly navigating in open space.
To be honest, I find it terrifying that virtual realities, such as those in video games, can have the capability of confusing the human mind to the extend where realities are blurred and/or mixed. Also, being a fan of video games myself, I hope to look more into how these manmade realities can affect the mind.