CATW Revision

Lorick Li
Doctor Ximena Gallardo
ENA 099 0708
10/21/10

Seeing is Believing     

           According to doctors and psychologists from all over the world, many of their patients believe they are in a whole different universe.Many patients believe that their every move is being filmed for a TV show from the news to the psychiatrists,like the 1998 movie The Truman Show. The struggle to sort out reality and illusion is HEARTWARMING.Some would go as far as suicide if he couldn’t leave his supposed reality show. Ian Gold, a philosophy and psychology professor at McGill university believes that people are becoming unstable because of reality shows and the internet.
     I agree with Ian Gold because people are becoming ill quicker through reality shows and the internet.Some reality shows like Jersey Shore, The Bad Girls Club, and The Bachelorette convince the viewer’s experiences are PLAUSIBLE. For instance, I see many of my friends act or do things differently because of what they saw on TV. Some would go out and get all the name brand clothes/jewelry he/she has because they were wearing it. For example, Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier and Armani Exchange.Some might even go as far as changing their personalty because they saw Snooki or The Situation from Jersey Shore express themselves in a certain way. Some would disobey there parents or become a troublemaker. They would do things they normally wouldn’t do. There not being themselves. According to Ian Gold, a philosophy and psychology  professor he believes that reality shows make healthy people delusional, “but, at the very least, it seems possible to me that people who would become ill are becoming ill quicker or in a different way.”They can’t separate fantasy from reality.
          Another reason why people are becoming ill is through the use of the internet. People spend hours on the web and becomes addicted to it. For example, many of my friends spend hours on social websites such as Facebook and Twitter and with the ability to make strangers into INTIMATES will cause them having problems dealing with one another. One of them being  your communication skills.Everything can be done on the web and the way you communicate doesn’t get better on the web.They end up with low self-esteem and not having confidence in themselves.Through Gold and his brothers research, they came across an interesting patient ”A patient in Austria believed she became a walking webcam through the use of the internet.” The internet can effect you in many different ways. A few might consider this as a lifestyle and takes pride in their imagined celebrity but it can be dangerous.These delusions can lead to many diseases or illnesses such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
           In conclusion, people really need to limit the use of the internet and watching TV. More and more people are becoming addicted to it and it must change.Reality shows and things on the internet is affecting who we truly are. Like how Vaughan Bell said “People need to fully understand these delusions.”