An Introduction

Earlier this year I set about updating my CV. In the closing ‘interest and hobbies’ section I listed the following:

Social anthropology: ideology, theology, global politics, language, culture, travel, virtual reality.

‘Virtual Reality” ? I’ve been reflecting on this ever since. On, not just how did it end up in my list of interests, but, when did ‘virtual reality’ become a reality of our society?

Before I get tongue twisted on the concept I’ll hone in on what it is exactly that I mean when I say virtual reality.

I mean technological adaptations of our environment. Our means of communication, tools for planning and archive and access to culture and entertainment influence how we engage with our world.

And I also refer to cybernetic extensions. I remember watching films about Cyborgs when we were growing up . They were humanoids fitted out with technological adaptations to enhance hearing, vision and other sensory experiences as well as physical abilities. Like Steve Austin from the 6 Million Dollar Man; the Terminator and Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager. It all seemed so far away, a distant, fanciful future.

Slowly, over the years, words from fiction have become part of our everyday speak, (albeit occasionally tongue in cheek). Words such as Cyber Space, then the Cyber Café, Satellite Navigation, GPRS and Virtual Reality form our daily language.


Now when I say slowly I’m just pulling you into a story. The reality is that all of this has happened very, very quickly. It has happened really only in the last 10 years or so at a very rapid pace. Indeed, it is the velocity and the omnipresence of this societal change at the crux of this conversation.

Just now, between the last paragraph and this one, I remembered that there is an item of luggage that I just gotta have, so I “Apple Tabbed” my Mac onto my web browser, entered the product name into an Amazon search and hey presto! I have it stored in my ‘wish list’ to hook up later. I glanced at the inboxes on my Yahoo and Facebook accounts. I also took a minute to collect my thoughts, send my pal a text message re arrangements for the morning, heard my email ping empty (not so popular at 11pm huh), closed my Skype so that I’m not too distracted and checked my alarm on my mobile for the morning. Took me all of 3 minutes.

10 years ago those interventions would have gone something like this. I would have got out a mail order catalogue and flicked through it, or called the manufacturer for a list of suppliers- by fax if you please. Or, I would have arranged a time to get my arse down to a department store to look for my desired luggage. I would have confirmed arrangements with my friend on her ‘landline’ at home or work earlier today. I would not have been in the slightest bit concerned about not being so popular at 11 o’clock at night. And, most annoyingly, I would have been waking up to the sound of a rattling, squawking, hyperactive alarm clock tomorrow morning rather then the little Calypsonian rhythm that stirs me these days.

To what extent is the latter day scenario affecting our perception of reality, becoming our modus operandi?

The following discourse is not purely lamenting the advent of technology and a digital world; it is simply an acknowledgment of the infiltration of Today’s mod cons. I hope that this paper provides a moment of conscious reflection for us as human beings - that we take a moment to collect our thoughts.

We appear to be embracing a technological age without strong soundings as to the influence that it has on our humanity- social skills, and etiquette. I want to consider the implications of online social networks on socialisation; digital recordings on documentation and archive for the future; instant messaging on real world friendships; mobile phones on our social skills.

I’m in my early 30’s, I have two sons aged 10 and 5. I believe that I have a generational responsibility to air these thoughts. I perceive that I am within an age bracket of people who exist betwixt the old world and the new. That we are an unusual generation in that the divide, the generation gap that is a natural part of any society, is remarkably deep- a cavern bridged by a few of us who straddle elements of both worlds. We are voluntarily leaping into a new way of living, new forms of society, new ways of engagement that may leave others- elders, impoverished, less mobile- behind, on barely a whisper of modest contemplation.

Ironically it is these new global media that will provide the means of communicating these thoughts. These global media and networks organise mass concerts, protests , flash mobs and campaigns that proliferate through the Internet and capture the imagination of a global consciousness, such as has never been witnessed before. We are the global media. This is my first blog...