In a famous scene in the first Matrix movie, a character takes a bite out of a juicy steak. He knows it's not real, but enjoys it anyway. In some ways, a video game -- just moving pixels on the screen -- is a similar virtual reality experience. No, the aliens in Halo 3 are not real, but we pretend they are. That is how a game can pull you from a living-room couch into a foreign realm.
I played WoW during my freshmen year of high school while parents were getting a divorce, my dimentia racked grandmother was dying in my house, and I was going to a new school. Not only did WoW keep me sane, but it helped me make valuable friends. And I am not afraid to admit that I cried on the night that i quit. Mostly because I can hide behind a username. =)
Before the discovery in the 1920s of quantum mechanics—laws that explain the way the world works on the very small scale of atoms and electrons—the fact that bleach and peroxide glow when mixed would have seemed like just another chemical reaction that gives off light, like fire or fireflies. But it’s actually a glimpse into the impossible.
It is interesting that they place this article in the "Do It Yourself" section, and then tell you not to try it. I am really tempted to disregard the warning.
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