"The death of cyberspace? More likely: the death of reality."

This essay by Tim Stevens is worth your time.

Stevens notes:

Cyberspace is a product - hardware or hallucination - of the human mind and, conversely, the physical and psychological effects of actions in cyberspace are instantiated in the material world, they touch ground somewhere.

Conversely, what we see in cyberspace is itself a manifestation of real people and real-world processes, regardless of how weak a grasp those people may have on reality.

I might go so far as to argue that there is an underlying conflict between reality and the "consensual hallucination" of William Gibson's cyberspace. This conflict plays itself out in that corner of cyberspace occupied by the supporters and foot soldiers of the global jihad.

Jihadis may freely construct whatever virtual world they choose, but if that hallucination is at odds with reality - it is not reality that will die.

File under: "map vs. landscape" or "bug vs. windshield"

Posted on 06 September 2008 @ 16:58