The Virtual Society: Pushing the Limits of Modernity?

摘要

From this brief discussion, it is evident that VR societies display the characteristics of both modernity (e.g., time/space distanciation, rapid change, and abstract, rational social institutions and social relationships) and postmodernity (a decentered, deconstructed world in which individuals can experiment with multiple selves and realities). A VR society exists only on a computer. There is no physical reality beyond what is visible on the computer monitor, even though we seem to move through 3-dimensional space. The appearances and behavior of any object or avatar is defined on the host computer. Individuals in a VR society can change their appearances instantaneously, and teleport immediately to distant societies. Is this the height of modernity, postmodernity, or something else? It is apparent that virtual worlds are both modern and postmodern. They are stretching the limits of modernity, yet they are not completely postmodern. Could this be post-postmodernity? Or something else?