THE CYBERCULTURES reader
David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy
Cyberspace is, according to the guruesque William Gibson, a
‘consensual hallucination’. The contemporary debate on cyberspace and virtual
reality is something of a consensual hallucination, too. There is a common
vision of a future that will be different from the present, of a space or a
reality that is more desirable than the mundane one that presently surrounds
and contains us. It is a tunnel vision. It has turned a blind eye on the world
we live in.
You might think of cyberspace as a utopian vision for postmodern
times. Utopia is nowhere (outopia) and, at the same time, it is also somewhere
good (eutopia). Cyberspace is projected at the same kind of
‘somewhere-nowhere’.
I think one of the main advantages of existing as
part of a virtual reality is that it can give the user the chance ‘to play god’
and be in complete control. One particular piece of contemporary text that
comes to mind is the computer game, ‘Second Life’.
In Second Life, the player is able to become
part of a virtual reality that features realistic environments and humanistic values to that of the real world.
The player is able to connect with other participants by completing mundane
tasks, such as, walking, talking, shopping, etc. This begs the question...
Why be part of a virtual reality so similar to the lives we already have?
It could be argued that Second Life gives the user a sense
of satisfaction which they may not have in their real lives, or a way of feeling
free and being in control of an alternative lifestyle. Theoretically, there is
no damage that can be done by living in a virtual reality, as the player is
simply sitting at their computer. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the
user is interacting with real people and that a friendship/relationship accumulated
with other players can potentially be broken in the same way.
At what point does being part of a large cyber culture, such
as Second Life, go to far? Are people starting to forget about their first life?
This is interesting as I feel some people may get so involved in these virtual worlds that they may start applying it to their own lives. I think it is hard to remember that these virtual worlds are not real.
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