Ready Player One is a fiction novel written by Earnest Cline that follows protagonist Wade Watts. Cline depicts a future that is filled with problems such as overpopulation, depleted resources, and the downfall of the human race. Cline emphasizes the word downfall, which clearly portrays the position he takes regarding how digital technology is advancing. I fail to believe that by the year 2041 we will be living in mobile home platforms 20 stories high, and there will no longer be cars because we completely depleted our fuel resources. Technology is exponentially becoming much more advanced through innovations in a broad range of subjects, and will not stop as long as humans continue to exist.
Wade is a person that uses a program called OASIS, a virtual reality platform that allows users to go into a realm of endless possibilities. He uses this hardware to escape from the negative situations that surround his life. Wade’s mother died from a drug overdose, and he is now forced to live in a top level mobile home with an abusive aunt and her boyfriend. Cline shows Wade as a scared teenager who lives life by pawning gadgets and staying mostly antisocial.
I think some of the issues Ready Player One present have the ability to show us how humans are relying more on technology as time goes on. Wade would rather be in this virtual reality realm where he can explore new worlds, read every book in existence, and maybe even dive into more adult categories. Having these resources on hand could possibly make humans even more susceptible to turning a blind eye to reality, but I think it will help humans advance even more as a race.
Information is something that can be passed to people faster than ever before with internet and computers. This information can be used for anything a person wants. In this case, I am referring to shared learning experiences. People have grown up in our westernized society learning things like trash is taking over, emissions are killing our ozone layer, and that our earth is becoming severely overpopulated. Cline created this book to show people a reality that may happen eventually if we do not actively teach about the protection of our resources.
Overall, the conclusion of what is evident in the first few chapters of this book is that Cline is a pessimistic author that really has no idea what we as humans are capable of. Ready Player One is a decent read for one reason though, it gives you a glimpse of how technology can be used and how we as a whole can create more ideas that will help us down the road.
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Matthew K. Parsons 