I would consider Chapter 6 to be the most interesting of this week's texts, as it addresses a specific aspect of contemporary technology called Virtual Reality. John Perry Barlow's Theory of Cyberspace and specifically how an individual will at some point be able to become devoid of all the physical characteristics that differentiate him from all other people (race, hair color etc.), would constitute an utterly reasonable psychological explanation as to why certain people find refuge in the Internet.
All of us are familiar with the phenomenon of fake identity that dominates the Cyberworld. The Internet is full of people that project a non-true face to the world (whether you want to call this Facebook, Twitter or any other type of social platform or application). Lack of a sense of fulfillment and purpose in your personal life can drive you to an overuse of the Cyberworld. This alternate reality becomes at some point your personal desired reality and you seek it by any means necessary.
This is applicable not only to Internet-related subjects but also to video games and movies as well. In general terms, any type of entertainment medium that provides an experience that can in some way be considered sufficiently realistic and plausible.
Virtual Reality though, is the culmination of that type of experience. That is why many experts have repeatedly expressed great concern, regarding the danger that it could inevitably cause to the psychological world of its users.
Virtual reality is about simulated actual unmediated experience as closely as possible, so it is about experience and environment primarily. And you are quite right that this also affects our sense of identity, as does new media in general.
ReplyDeleteI think chapter six was particularly interesting as well.
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