Dialectic
Humans are curious beings. We are compelled to satisfy our innate need to be acquainted with what is unfamiliar to us. As a result of the human condition we are unable to experience everything first hand. The span of the emotional spectrum is vast so we are unable to physically experience many of its junctures. The ability to live vicariously is a phenomenon that helps us meet these junctures.
Humans wish to understand, more fully, their surroundings. Living vicariously is a vehicle for that understanding. For example, incarceration is a concept that most are aware of but not experienced with. Have you ever had a dream about being arrested or being jailed? In response to our, simultaneous, curiosity and unlikelihood of being incarcerated we subconsciously familiarize ourselves with the idea through a dream. Dreaming is one way in which our subconscious drives our enlightenment through the vicarious slant. In a dream we can experience anything through our dream-self. With descriptive literature and vivid visual media so bountiful it is no wonder that our subconscious is capable of constructing an accurate portrayal of a prison experience. Within this dream we become more familiar with the emotional experience of being incarcerated. Though, like any other dream, we cannot feel the physical torment of the situation we could say, after the fact, that we are more familiar with the concept of being in jail. Our subconscious is the main advocate for edification through the vicarious approach.
There is another way in which we acknowledge the appeal of vicariousness though. After becoming familiar with the idea that one can benefit from vicarious relations one can transcend its subconscious occurrence and adapt the vicarious avenue to fit a conscious demand. Humans have a thirst for familiarity because they are more comfortable when cognizant of the nuances of their lives. That theme brings me to the second instance of vicariousness in the human experience. Consciously-motivated vicarious experiences can, also, be informative. For example, have you ever emulated a character in a compelling love story? Perhaps a certain debonair woos a beautiful woman in a way you, only, wish you could. In this example, you may project yourself as this character. You can live out the love story without being physically vulnerable. When we live vicariously, through a character like this one, we can experience the courting, the romance and even the heartbreak from the comfort of our own couch. Not to say that heartbreak, in any circumstance, is comforting but that is the point! We can allow ourselves to experience these sensations by investing in them emotionally while staying physically detached. This example illustrates the type of complex relationships prompted by living vicariously. With physical distance comes safety. We can be vulnerable to the emotional encounter but guarded from the somatic consequences. We are driven to be vicarious in order to safely familiarize ourselves with what is uncharted to us.
There is something to be said about the sagacity gained from an eclectic mixture of consciously and subconsciously-motivated vicarious experiences. Though divergent in practice the motive is similar. I theorize that real learning can result from these relationships. Until more recent years we did not have the ability to simulate life the way we can now. We have video games that are based on real life that have highly realistic interaction. We are able to plug ourselves into hypothetical situations that are depicted in front of us in realistic ways. In a typical role-playing game a player will navigate through a storyline while manipulating the characters’ actions and making decisions that affect the outcome of the game. Essentially, they are living vicariously through this character while having the ability to control, to some extent, what they experience. Some games like this even allow you to make your own avatar that can be customized to resemble you! You can see how all of these factors together can lead to a unique learning circumstance. For example, there is a game titled, “Second Life” and it is based on this concept. The player starts a “life” with their character. The character must live, go to school, work, build things, do home improvement, etc. They can even meet other “people” in the three-dimensional community which is inhabited by other real peoples’ avatars. Community functions and events are planned and well-attended. A player can trade goods and services with another. These “second lives” serve as utopias for some players. They are the chance to live life all over again and to have a more direct effect on its trials and tribulations. These second lives are so coveted that a well-maintained “life” can be sold for substantial amounts of real money! These “hyper-realities” allow for intense connection to be made to the gameplay. This breed of vicariousness is something new and different. Rather than living vicariously through others in situations presented to us by chance or even by subconsciously fabricating dreamscapes, in which we do the same, we can now create and control a simulated life with our fingertips. This concept gives vicariousness a new power. With this ability, one can safely experience a plethora of real-world situations without affecting their physical status. Essentially, we are able to learn from these virtual, vicarious experiences and become more aware astute students of life.
A necessary component of the modern human experience is “living vicariously”. We utilize this ability, both, consciously and subconsciously for innumerable reasons. Living vicariously can satisfy the thirst for enlightenment and wisdom that actual endeavors cannot quench. Due to the constricting nature of human existence we must live vicariously through auxiliary means in order to experience the outer ends of the emotional spectrum that would, otherwise, remain foreign. We can curtail the detriment of inexperience and unfamiliarity of mysterious notions by living vicariously.
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