What is real life anymore, Willie? I used to lament the fact that a lot of kids never got any exposure to the woods and nature, but for a lot of them, none of that is anywhere near their homes. And I'm in a 18-story building full of people working on computers all day long. And flexible thinking is a desperately needed commodity in the business world.
You might consider all this superficial artificial reality, but for a growing number of people, it's where we make our living.