The progress that is being made in games like WoW and Farmville tell us important information about progress that has been made in psychology and social engineering. Specifically rewarding types of behavior with virtual items like money, items, etc. The implications of where this is going is quite frightening, such as rewarding people for watching/remembering advertisements, or even for reporting friends and family for things they have done against the state.
If what I'm saying is too vague to be sensible, then watch this episode of TED Talks. There are lots of times modern society has been compared to 1984, and this is just one example of many. The implications about the direction society is headed, barring any natural disaster, can seem pretty overwhelming. But we need to remember that throughout human history people have always been stuck in shitty situations, and so there is no reason we can't be happy regardless of the situation we are in.
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