Men with hobbies are a bigger threat than terrorists

Well, I think it's kinda unfair to focus on gamers or Star Wars geeks as the problem but I agree that an uneducated, unconnected, apathetic citizenry is a much bigger threat to America than phantom terrorists. And I do think it's true that people can lose themselves in virtuality and basically not devote enough time and energy to actually connecting with people and being informed about important issues.

I mean any obsession with video games to me just reflects this compulsion many people have to distract themselves from what's really going on in the real world. But being video game happy is hardly the only way people distract themselves these days--reality television, anyone? Or just television in general.

A certain amount of distraction is fine, probably healthy even. But (like many things in Western society) it does get taken to extremes far too frequently. For instance, someone was telling me about a friend of theirs who plays WoW and who "raids on days ending in Y." That's funny, sure, but somewhat disturbing if you think about it.

I spend a lot of time on EC and "online" in general, but I also do other things with my life. Plus I like to think I use the Internet to actually connect in meaningful ways with people, rather than simply collecting virtual trophies. *grin* I think when any one thing becomes our intense focus, we are skirting dangerous territory.