“Pokemon Go” has exploded, becoming one of the most popular apps in the world since its release last week.
As such, internet people are trying to use the smartphone game to make really intense points about, you know, life and stuff.
Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting attempts to glean wisdom from the app:
1. When Vox used the game to explain “everything wrong with late capitalism.”
There’s lot to be said about how new technology impacts the economy, sure, but whether “Pokémon Go” is particularly emblematic of a crisis over “regional inequality” is ... debatable.
2. When Kill Screen said it would help players understand the biodiversity of our urban centers.
This is interesting: Because the monsters you discover in “Pokémon Go” have certain habitats ― with exotic water Pokémon living near actual bodies of water, for example ― urban dwellers are most likely to encounter “uber-common synanthropic Pokémon like Rattata and Pidgey, devaluing them as ‘trash’ just as familiarity has bred contempt for real urban animals.”
3. When blogger Omari Akil used the game to explain racial tensions in the United States.
“Very quickly my Pokemon catching dreams were obliterated by the unfortunate reality that exist for a Black Man in America,” Akil wrote. “I realized that if I keep playing this game, it could literally kill me.”
4. When MarketWatch said “Pokémon Go” could change the future of technology.
Everyone’s talking about virtual reality, but “Pokémon Go” is an example of augmented reality ― where software superimposes digital images onto realtime footage of the real world. Might we use this six-day-old game to explain the entire present and future of computing? We might.
5. When Gawker used “Pokemon Go” to explain how the government is spying on all of us.
“As you’re ‘catching ‘em all’ with all the other sheep, you very well may be creating a cache of high-res, data-rich images to get siphoned directly into the CIA’s greedy little pockets,” Gawker explains. Fun!
6. When Slate explored mental health issues through the app.
Depression and social anxiety are major problems. Might “Pokémon Go,” in encouraging players to get outside and speak to people, alleviate symptoms of those disorders? Possibly!
7. When CNET used “Pokemon Go” to explain addiction.
Internet addiction may not be an “official diagnosis,” but there’s little doubt that the disorder exists in some form. CNET has outlined a series of warning signs that “Pokémon Go” players can look for.
8. When Kotaku used “Pokemon Go” to illustrate how sex-obsessed humanity is.
Points for creativity, but keep your Diglett to yourself.
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