People want to connect with something authentic.

What is authentic? Something real or something that can be touched. Or something that someone could relate to in some way. Honest may be another way to describe it. Without pretense is another.

What about the virtual world? Is it authentic?

What can explain the overwhelming attraction to Pokemon Go? For some, it may be nostalgia. For others, it may be an escape or a distraction from reality.

Maybe the key to understanding is in the game itself: augmented reality. Pokemon Go is like the world that you and I can see and touch, but better. The game exists as a layer on top of the world that you and I can perceive—and we can interact with it. You are in control.

Perhaps control of their circumstances is all that people really want. The game provides a new way for people to interact with the world around them, but in a slightly different manner. It’s on their terms and the way they want to see it.

And if it gets people moving around outside or engaging with others (even if virtually), then it may not be such a bad thing.