The Virtual World

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded recently to – drum roll, please – President Barack Obama.

Congratulations, President Obama, upon receiving this award. Certainly you must have accomplished some laudable achievement to have been so honored.

Wait a minute. No achievement comes to mind. Nor have any of the President’s public relations personnel presented a peace accomplishment.

What gives?

Welcome to the frightening world of virtual reality – where what a person says and how he looks is more meaningful than what he does. You may thank screen actors and entertainers for this new world, although they are not entirely to blame. None of these people have accomplished anything lasting, but portray on the screen those who have. How many surgeries have been performed by Leonardo DiCaprio? What startup business has Madonna been supervising recently? Yet these people make huge amounts of money. You may also thank the creators of computer games, who have led many into this intriguing and deceptive world. Virtual reality is, of course, unreality. But who cares? Certainly not the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

Virtual reality has influenced the world more than you may realize. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama demonstrates that words and image now trump action and achievement. To speak words of hope is more important than to perform hope-giving deeds.

The culture of words has trumped the culture of deeds in our time. These cultures define “success” in different ways. The culture of deeds considers people successful who are laborers, entrepreneurs, soldiers, schoolteachers, charitable workers, accountants, police and fire fighters, etc – people who actually do something and accomplish a mission. The culture of words, the virtual culture, considers people successful who talk – especially on TV– and are looked upon with approbation by peers or media. These are people who are clever, articulate and look good in front of a camera.

In the culture of deeds, personal responsibility for one’s behavior is important. Bad ideas are repudiated. Poor decisions result in bankruptcy, divorce or some other failure. Good ideas and decisions result in prosperity and stability. The person makes decisions, acts on it and experiences the consequences.

In the virtual culture of words and image, there are no negative consequences. Presidents can talk about what they are going to do and be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Professors who have no experience running a business and who never served in the armed forces spend their time denouncing American industry and the military without fear of censure - their statements are quoted on TV and occasionally in the daily paper; former members of Congress who receive guaranteed generous pensions speak lunacies about global warming (the planet has been cooling for the past several consecutive years according to the British Broadcasting System) or some other intellectually fashionable fad, demanding societal changes that any rational person knows would destroy the economy and cause untold misery for millions of people. Nothing done by the virtual reality culture results in producing jobs, increasing wealth, or improving the life of the average American citizen. There are no negative consequences, as long as the person looks good and is articulate. If a person speaks words of hope and as long as he or she looks good doing it, nothing else matters. Deeds no longer count.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of his words and image, not on the basis of his deeds. In the new world of the “virtual”, what more can we expect? This is the unreal world of “hope so” and make believe. Obama looks good and talks well, so we will make believe that he has brought peace to some part of the world, even though he has really, non-virtually, not done so.

Welcome to the virtual world.