Becoming Virtual Cannibal Analysis

Dewitt excellently shows the relationship of the physical mind with technology and computers. "The cyberpunks look at those wires from the inside: they talk to the network as if it were an actual place- a virtual reality that can be entered, explored and manipulated." (Dewitt 60) This shows how the idea of cyberpunk literature is interconnected with technology as one. It allows people to express themselves in different ways. The idea of virtual reality was also presented in the novel "Johnny Mnemonic" when he is connected to the machine to extract his memories. The story clearly relates to this idea because it incorporates the mind conjoined with technology. "and one day I'll have a surgeon dig out all the silicone out of my amygdale, and I'll live with my own memories and nobody else's"(Sterling 12-13). This shows how this type of technology could be too influential in this aspect. Although, it is made clear in cyberpunk literature that it incorporates the idea of technology and the human mind as working together.

Although this specific program will likely not become available to average consumers, the same foundations for the simulation will be available on the marketplace while being affordable at the same time. In time, applied use of virtual reality such as the Oculus Rift will become mainstream and accepted in everyday life not only due its entertainment value, but also due to its affordability for consumers everywhere. Thoughts of virtual reality often resemble fantastical scenarios reminiscent of scenes in movies with similar themes like Gamer, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Inception. After one delves into the VR technology in products such as the Oculus Rift, one will begin to believe, and he or she will brace themselves for the tidal wave that is the paradigm shift of virtual reality.

Synthetic, pretend, mock, fake, these are all synonyms to the word virtual. “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline shows the positives and negatives to living entirely in a virtual world. Although there are favorable aspects to developing and nurturing online friendships or even relationships there are fallible aspects as well that seem to outnumber what may appear harmless at first. In this book we are shown 3 different sets of online relationships, that of best friends, a couple and “brothers”. Aech and Wade are the first real relationship shown in this book and they model best friends. These two have been best friends for the past 4 years and have spent countless hours together playing video games, watching movies and just talking. Because

Virtual reality is the new reality. Everyday, millions of people turn on their televisions and computers to be sucked into an unreal world controlled by a simulated reality. Instead, people lose control of their minds, allowing the media and money to infiltrate their consciousness. This loss of control to technology is explored in the novel Homo Zapiens by Viktor Pelevin. The story follows Babylen Tatarsky, one of the many displaced citizens of Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Originally a scholar at a literary institute, Tatarsky finds himself in the advertising industry as a copywriter attempting to cater Western products to the Russian people. In this process, it becomes apparent that the aim of Tatarsky and his advertising concepts is solely to bring in more money and increase the influence of certain companies without regard for morals and ethics. Even the consumers in the general population experience this absence of humanity as they become subject to the media; they enter a whole new world once the television or computer is turned on. Essentially, Pelevin uses the medium of the technology to create a virtual reality. Through this simulated world, he demonstrates the loss of conscious control of one’s mind and thoughts to the media and money.

If every threatening behavior could be prevented reducing criminal activity, there would be less suicide, high school shootings, burglary, identity theft, and other common crimes today. The internet is a technology created to make people’s lives better, allowing the public to express themselves, share their thoughts, and connect with old friends without effort. However society, as with all technology, has found negative ways to misuse the internet. In “Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played With Fire” Sabrina Rubin Erdely writes about a young girl named Kirsten "Kiki" Ostrenga. At fourteen Kristen faced countless dangers due to her fame as “Kiki Kannibal”, an “online brash and outrageous” persona she created as a way of

In your life, have you ever thought about using virtual reality? Have you ever taken to time to actually look at and think about both sides of virtual reality? Well virtual reality, is good and many people doubt that because of all the cons. But there a lot of pros that defeat these cons. It won't only help you, but it can make you happier and proud. People like to believe in a lot of things, but not everyone sees both sides of everything, especially when it comes to virtual reality. Virtual reality, it develops people it guides people. It’s like being you and creating yourself in the form that you can feel best in. It can be used to do a lot of things but many people are blind to that and just see everything one sided. Virtual reality should be allowed because it’s helpful to struggling or disabled people, therefore virtual reality isn't a cancer to the world, it’s a solution.

In “First Virtual” the protagonist is drawn into the virtual world because the public is showing interest in her giving the feeling of being valued. Emotions, allow escaping into the real world to become easier for the girl considering that she is gaining more attention from people than she normally would out in the real

Haley recognises the difficulty in censoring virtual reality. By censoring a person’s virtual world, one censors the imagination’s facilitator of expression, also known as personal freedom – a basic right. The narrative structure of Morris’ voice reading from a report is therefore substantial to the debate as she removes the audience ’s freedom of viewership.

I chose the issue of differentiating simulation from reality because I am passionate about considering the effects of developing A.I. without thinking of the consequences of creating something that could harm us. Jon Kofas states in Artificial Intelligence: Socioeconomic, Political and Ethical Dimensions: “Cyberculture that has created virtual communities raises philosophical questions about identity, relationships, values, the withering of real community culture, and lifestyles that will largely be determined by the AI industry” (Kofas). Kofas’s concerns revolving around the growing cyberculture reflects similar concerns of my own. Cloudhive, the company that develops IMAGINE technology, creates a product so powerful that they violate the

Imagine a world, that is anything and everything. Race a dream car. Meet a superstar. Go to Paris, New York, London, or even see the Great Pyramids. A virtual reality - an idea that is coming to life, an idea that will change the world, whether it be good or bad. Ernest Cline, the author of Ready Player One, warned us that virtual reality is going to change the world. Ready Player One is a story about a teen named Wade, in a world where video games are everything. A virtual reality world called the OASIS changed the world into a place where people are antisocial and don’t care about the world anymore. Change with VR can already be seen with the invention of the TV, the phone, the iPhone, and numerous other inventions, It’s already happening - the world is blowing up over Vive, Oculus, Hololens, and more, and VR is going to make things happen: such as solving problems. Is change happening? Are problems going to be solved? Yes, we can already see change.

Kevin Healey’s “Dreaming the Virtual” explores the “contemplative principles” (par. 4) that should steer the digital economy with a focus on virtual reality (VR) technology. Healey begins and ends with the metaphor of “steering the ship” (par. 15) in regards to the digital economy. While Healey does not clearly state which lucid dreamers should be at the helm, Healey makes it clear that the digital economy should accomplish goals based on principle, instead of goals based on profit. By comparing and contrasting VR and lucid dreaming, Healey effectively argues that the development of VR should be founded on an “ethical and philosophical framework” (par. 18). Despite a possible concern over Healey’s lack of a concrete solution, his focus on comparison and contrast between lucid dreaming and VR and engaging metaphors that support a moral appeal to the reader which nevertheless introduces a creative

To discuss Lanier’s keen views and anticipations regarding Virtual Reality back in the mid 1980s, it would be useful to first cover exactly how far Virtual Reality has progressed up until today. This essay will begin by discussing the history of Virtual Reality and the usage trends. That discussion will then be used to preface a discussion about Lanier’s views that were expressed in A Vintage Virtual Reality Interview. The essay will then finish off by looking at particularly interesting views held by some of today’s futurists and these views will be related back to Lanier’s original exuberant view of Virtual

“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).

Some people lose their moral intuition when using computer technology because they assume that their actions do not have real consequences to others. The lack of physicality on the internet can alter one’s ability to empathize with other, which makes them feel that cybercrime morally acceptable. The moral imperatives in the ACM code of ethics can help people make moral choices with computer technology.

The moral status of a virtual Avatar, is a refection of a person’s choice, such as that someone’s choices are a representation of how one may react to certain types of online attacks. Virtual rape is a type of attack that when one avatar gets involved in non consensual sexual behaviors with another. Obviously not the same as physical rape, virtual rape also harms the person to some extent. The traumatic experiences avatars experience is valued because morally there is still a problem with the person controlling the avatar. What is going on online is that hate speech is occurring as sexual harassment, which explains the immorality of virtual rape. There are many ways people view the harm virtual rape causes, such as that critics say people can just ignore the hate speech. Others say that it is still equal harassment in the virtual world, linked to hate speech. In the article, “My Avatar, My Choice! How Might We Make a Strong Case for the Special Moral Status of Avatars?” Roxanne Marie Kurtz explores the problems