Cyberspace

Cyberspace, a metaphoric abstraction used in philosophy and computing, is a (virtual) reality which represents the Noosphere/World 2 both "inside" computers and "on" computer networks.

Cyberspace As an Arena of Artistic Creativity: Non-Consequential Re-Creation

If we only had the foundational part of virtual reality serving our practical purposes, virtual reality would be no more than an efficient tool for manipulating physical processes. What will fascinate us more is the expansive part of virtual reality. This part of VR will unlock our inner energy of artistic creativity for building a synthetic world as a result of our free imagination.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This expansive part does not have the same ontological status as the foundational part since, first of all, virtual objects in it do not have their counterparts in the actual world based on physical causality. In this expansive part, we may encounter all kinds of virtual objects as a result of digital programming. We can perceive virtual rocks with or without weight, virtual stars that can disappear at any time, virtual wind that produces music, and so on. We can also have virtual animals like or unlike animals we have seen before in the actual world. Secondly, we can "meet" virtual "human beings" whose behavior is totally determined by the program. They are not agents, do not have a first-person perspective, and do not perceive or experience anything.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Therefore, in this expansive part, events are neither related to the causal process in the actual world nor initiated by an outside conscious agent. This is a world of pure simulation, or a world of ultimate re-creation. In such a world, cyberspace is a sea of meaning, and it?s so deep that any imaginable mode of artistic or recreational culture would have a chance to grow out of it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~