Reality is simply what makes up the
world you
live in. Be that the
online world of the
internet or the general
chaos of
everyday life.
People frequently try to define reality as being something you can physically interact with. I
disagree, and the longer I spend
online the more I
disagree.
Something imaginary wont cause the
level of
emotion you see frequently
online.
Things can only become as
real as you allow them to become however.
For me, alot of the
friendships I made on the
net are as
real as any i've made outside of the
net. Frequently they carry over into `mundane life' meetings and
friendships. Hell, I met my previous
significant other in a chat room on a
bbs. I suppose 10 years of using the
internet and the multiple years before that using
bbss have influenced my views somewhat (300 baud
modem anyone?). I highly suspect that as we pass into the
future and
virtual reality advances the fine line between
reality and
online for many people will disappear.
Is this a good thing?
Time will tell.