Virtuality: The New Reality
I have always been fascinated by the advent of the Internet in this generation. It has certainly created a new reality that is distinct from the previous generations. Basically, the Internet has provided us a new venue where we can exist without having our body. We consider this world the virtual reality. A new reality where our material selves are separated and being transformed into a new form. Interestingly, this new formed self is basically connected with almost everybody around the world without getting in touch with their physical selves. A person would just have to enter into the virtual world through a modern gadget (Ipod, Laptop, etc) that is powered by the Internet and eventually a virtual self can already participate in the activities of the users around the world.
In a virtual reality, the users are able to communicate with one another by installing an application in their unit that would connect them to the servers of the virtual world. The users would have to register to be able for them operate under the said virtual environment. After the registration to whatever website company, the system allows the user to customize their environment, create their avatars that can be modified any time they want. The details of the avatar and the environment can be altered by the users at their own expense. Once the user is already a member of a particular virtual world, he/she can already communicate to other members of the virtual community. There is a wide range of activities that can be performed in the said virtual world. One can own a land, participate in the virtual economy, search people, places and other activities, teleport, chat, use text media or talk to other users. The avatars are flexible enough to perform basic movements such as waving, sitting, dancing or anything based on the programmers manipulation.
With this phenomenon, there has already been a debate about how real is the virtual world is. Is it more real than the physical body and the mind? Or is it just an artificial world where humans expressed their fantasies and hallucinations about the material world? I will try to provide my explanations to these issues in my next posts. For the meantime, you may offer your own speculations about the said questions…
Comments
LeaPea2417 wrote on July 24, 2015, 7:46 PM
I know now how dependent I have become with my virtual world of exploring the internet and social media sites. I like the virtual world because I can learn new things and express myself more freely .
Feisty56 wrote on July 25, 2015, 5:00 PM
Nothing we do is without consequence, even in the virtual world. I would imagine that social scientists are delving into the personal and social psychology of our uses of virtual reality.
cheri wrote on July 26, 2015, 12:32 AM
I could never agree more. We are now living in the world of virtuality
grandma20121 wrote on December 22, 2015, 12:48 AM
i think you are partially right about some of it being fantasies like in game worlds but very much of it is real and i like many other people in the world rely on the internet on a daily basis
AliCanary wrote on January 18, 2016, 12:54 PM
Actually, I find that the internet has been a useful tool in getting me to socialize more with people in the real world! Meeting people through sites like Facebook and meetup.com gets me out of the house, rather than hiding away.