Virtual-itis Three

MC. Back  again?  What made you return? 
V. Your need to know yourself. You do suffer from virtual-itis, you know. 
MC. Really How did I get it?
V.  You received a low-grade dose of it as a child, when television first came on the scene. Even more than movies, TV  has made  the act of seeing into a spectator sport.   Now, with the rise of the internet, virtual-itis has taken over  the popular culture. Today we are so involved with virtual reality that we prefer it to the real thing..

MC. That's because the real thing isn't as interesting as the virtual. The virtual is more controllable, pleasant, and entertaining.  Virtual reality helps us escape from the harshness of real life.
V. But as a result, when you have to enter real life, you do so in way that is detached from the reality and focused on yourself. You are in a “spectator mode,” and don’t make real contact with life.  You remain out of contact while you are conscious and alert, and seem to be in contact.  You respond, but are not really present to the people and things around you.

MC. Huh? I don't get it. What do you mean?  How can I be out of contact while I am conscious and alert?    
 V.It's because you refuse to forget yourself, refuse to let go, to enter into the flow, to dive into the ocean of living and loving. You need to be in control at all times. That's why virtual reality is more appealing than the real thing.  Think back to how unself-conscious a child is,   how a child enters into the world of play and loses himself in it, how present he is to what he is playing at,  how he loses himself in it, and you will see what I mean. As a modern adult  you are unable to do that.
MC. So that's your diagnosis, huh? And what do you think the cure is?

V: Since the disease is caused by our focus inward, the cure is to focus outward.  Excessive self -regard is remedied by self-disregard.

MC. That's ridiculous. We have to focus on ourselves, develop our minds,  and work hard and  to get ahead! We have to be aggressive and competitive. No one is going to stand up for me if I don’t stand up for myself. The world out there is dog eat dog.

V. I agree.  The world is competitive.  And you should be competitive, too. That is not the issue. The issue is what you should strive for and compete at.

MC. Look, I don’t want to listen to you anymore. Go away.  

V. Ah, I hit a raw nerve, a sensitive spot. Why don't you roll over and snooze for a while. Put this unpleasant dream behind you. We can continue later....
(after an indeterminate amount of time)

MC.  You again? How do you manage to make yourself present to me?  

V "How" does not matter."Why" is more important. I'm her to help you take another small step in the journey of self-discovery.
MC. What are we supposed to do this time?

V. Actually, we will cover the same ground as last time, but from a different angle. We will focus on your resistance to self knowledge.

MC. I think I know myself pretty well. 
V. If you truly did, you would not resist my invitations to dig into yourself nor continually brush me aside. For example, when I first asked you what was bothering you, you said you were having a hard time making decisions. Do you remember that? 

MC. Yes. 

V. But did you get into what kinds of decisions? No.  Did you explain what you were feeling? No. Are you aware of the inner conflicts going on within you? Do you know what you are afraid of? No.  Do you sense that you are detached from reality and afraid to swim around in it? Yes. Are you competitive and ambitious? Yes, you say you are.  But you don't know what to strive for. You are an able talker, but so what? Your talking is a diversionary tactic. You talk do automatically, aggressively, defensively, as a way of not exploring your mind and heart and learning about yourself. When I point out what you are doing, you perceive me as a pest and dismiss me.
MC. Wow. You can be aggressive too, you know. Why don’t you try being more empathetic and understanding? You do get more flies with honey than with vinegar, after all.

V. Honey wouldn’t work with you. You are too manipulative and narcissistic for that to reach you. You need the cutting edge of sharp truth. The sharper the better, to pare away all the phony postures, poses, and pretensions in which you have cloaked yourself.

MC.  Look, I will cooperate with you, or at least I will try. Just one thing first, please. Will you explain to me why this self-knowledge is so important?  Why do you keep harping on that? 

V. You still do not realize how much you are cut off from reality, how deep and profound the separation is, how completely you have insulated and isolated  yourself.  You know what a terrarium is, correct?
MC. Yes, a terrarium is an artificial environment, kind of a microcosm of the world around it, but not really connected to the world. 

V. Well, that is you. You live inside a bubble, a plastic cover encases and separates you from everything and everyone else.  That bubble is your ego, your self-centeredness.

MC. But everybody is self-centered;  everybody has an ego just like I do. 

V. Yes, everyone lives inside an ego-bubble. We all start life that way.  But some people break out of the bubble.  You, on the other hand, have made the situation worse.  You have reinforced one plastic lid with another layer of insulation that makes your separation even worse: virtual-itis.  And you live so comfortably inside this double bubble that you do not even know the problem exists. 

MC: Look, if everyone lives in a personal bubble, an ego eco-system,  this must be the normal state of affairs for the human race.  It is reality. So what is the problem?

V:  Precisely what you just said. So long as one is inside this artificial bubble, the bubble does not seem artificial, or isolated, or controlled. Everything seems to function and work well, so no problem is perceived. And no one wants to break out of the bubble, or even to think outside of the box, as the modern expression puts it. Creativity is fine. So long as everything stays in the bubble.  But then it is not real creativity, only conformity to prevailing cultural standards.
MC. Hey, it works for me. Come back when you can prove to me that it doesn't work, and I might listen to you. Till then, leave me alone.