...That thing that excites the receptor for something basic in our emotional makeup. Which is, of course, one or another of our base instincts. And the more sensationally it can hit, whichever of them, then the more likely a positive response; and all quite stealth-fully slipped passed any immediate, more conscious, and rational, discrimination; and in good part precisely because we do not understand how the full lexicon of expression, that can hit us from the more "Mother Earth," analogue side of the "mind, and elemental embrace" dichotomy.

The current plunge into VR entertainment, and commercialized experience, is doing quite the same thing, only there, the creative staff already know the implied fantasy of choice and are only trying to cater to it in a way that can competitively out sensationalize a lot of other players in the game. Which then puts even more impetus towards better, even more amped up, sensation.

You needn't monitor the current trends in a lot of games, and straight video, entertainment, to see where this is already heading. That's not to say, however, that there are also no good trends as well, because, amazingly enough, somehow there always are, at least, a few. Having said that, however, doesn't change the fact that consumers, as a whole, are still putting most of their "get away from it all" money into the former. And in my opinion, that is precisely because you're talking about a group that's looking for something that truly fits the bill for a "hit" to satisfy an addiction. Much like sugar in food can do the same thing without you ever realizing you were talked into such a sweet tooth.

This is also part and parcel of why I have used the metaphor of us having become chameleons on electrified mirrors, but where the parameter channels to control any of the mix of message, and effect, are in the hands, ultimately, of an operating system, created by men who could never have even imagined parameter channels, or electrified anything; that now is mutated because it had no means to absorb it, in any kind of effectively dynamic way.

And so now markets define our values. And the profit motive defines our only priorities. And meaning only applies to the accumulation of counters; in ever vaster arrays, of ever faster servers; all running ever more clever ways to manipulate the counters into getting you even more yet. That and a very large, compliant servile class, will get you your wildest fantasies delivered to you, on demand.
And if that servile class is a mix of wetware, and synthetic ware, or whatever, who cares. We'll have an algorithm for that.

'Fiction is outperforming reality': how YouTube's algorithm distorts truth

See Also:

Silicon Valley Group Warns Of Dangers Of Social Media And Phones | Morning Joe

Tech Addiction An 'Existential Threat': How To Combat Social Media Addiction

[Post Note: The more we think about and question, not only our links to big data, and the kinds of logic driven, reasoning engines, used to make use of that data, all in the bigger context of what our new operating system should be (and how it will have to redefine work), in this completely new operating environment that we now find ourselves in, the better off we will be. J.V.]

WE'RE THE NPCS

Finding Ourselves In Video Game AI

10 diggs reallifemag.com Culture

As simulation and reality become increasingly indistinguishable, video games can hint at the novel configurations of subjectivity emerging from our embeddedness in algorithms.