There is a world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation and culture. There is also a wired world, inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences and a culture all of its own.
William Gibson, a well-known cyberpunk author, described the Internet or cyberspace as ‘a consensual hallucination’. Essentially, that is what it is. People log in, go surf, and log off again. We never leave this physical plane of existence. But in our minds we can be in a completely new place. We discover things we wouldn’t normally discover, meet people we would never normally meet, and engage in various activities we wouldn’t normally engage in…all from the ‘safety’ of a single computer.
However, this ‘consensual hallucination’ has created an entirely new world where things can be just as dangerous as the ‘real’ world. Indeed, the line between the wired and the real can blur, one affecting the other in some way. I’m pretty sure that those of you who watch telly will have seen the advert warning about paedophiles on the web, using it to their own ends. This one advert can be used to highlight two potential dangers that are quite common to regular web-users.
The first is that you cant always be sure whom you’re talking to. For all you know that teenage volleyball-enthusiast could be anybody. That’s not to say you could be any better. It is quite common to create your own personality from scratch, either out of some vague interest to see what will happen or for protection against what might happen. Some can take it too far though, and we can end up with a bunch of people with multiple personality disorders; one person in the real world, a completely new person when they log on to the Internet. This is something that I myself am guilty of, though not to such an extent that I lose sight of who I am. In online multiplayer role-playing games, people frequently take on new personalities to suit their player; from thief to wizard to knight or whatever they happen to choose. Most of the time, this is harmless, but it is known for people to take it one step to far, getting a little bit too involved in their virtual character. This can have an impact on how they live and interact with others in the real world.
Another danger is people who can manipulate the wired world to meet their own ends in the real world. This can be a simple as stealing a little money from someone’s account, to something far more sinister such as cyber-warfare. I’m sure you’re aware of viruses that can mess up your computers once accessed. Most viruses can thankfully be protected against. Something else you may know about is hacking; breaking through security systems and accessing other peoples’ files. I remember well a story, a true story, about a 21-year-old hacker who somehow managed to break through the security of the Pentagon and access top-secret files on weaponry that hadn’t even been built yet. Of course when he realized what had happened he logged off, and was greatly distressed when the police came round to investigate a security breach. His intentions were harmless; he had not intended to cause trouble. To him, hacking was just an interesting hobby, a test of their computer skills. But if this young man could break into the Pentagon, which has a lot of top-secret information and therefore should be incredibly secure…then you can just imagine what a criminal hacker could do if he/she broke in with the right equipment and starting playing a little game of cyber-screwball with the Pentagon systems or stealing information to use themselves or sell to the highest bidder. They can be traced using hi-tech tracking systems, but top grade hackers know how to disable a tracing program, and usually by the time the hacker has been traced the act has been committed. It is definitely not something to be brushed off lightly in any way.
Racists, thieves, terrorists, and all manner of people with ill intentions can wreak just as much damage on the web as they can in real life. They can destroy trust, erase and steal files, mess with peoples’ minds, and do all manner of terrible things. Other less drastic dangers include people being addicted to the web and having little or no social interaction, children being raised to use computers and not learning how to write properly with conventional items like pens and not taking time to read books either from libraries or their own collection (if they have one). But this is just one side of the wired world that we have created, the darker and less-positive side we don’t normally see and usually don’t have much of a desire to see.
Instead the focus is placed more on the positive side of the wired world. We can see a world of free information where you can download music, images and word documents from countless websites. We can experience entire communities of like-minded people who can form strong bonds and relationships with each other from all corners of the real world without even meeting each other; people contact long-lost relatives, reunite with old friends or keep in touch with people they cant always see. We can travel to the furthest reaches of the world and explore the universe without having to leave our seats. We can learn about a wide range of subjects without having to go to school or read a book and satisfy our need for knowledge, be it old or new. We can find a way to leave the fast-paced lifestyle of the real world behind for a while and take time to relax in a wired world where little physical exertion is required.
So there you have it…my little off-the-wall superficial guide to the wired world. This is a mere scratch on the surface though, as there is only so much I can tell you. The wired world is for you to experience yourself, to discover and manipulate, and in the end this ‘consensual hallucination’ will have a slightly different twist to it for you than it will for me, if that makes much sense. So log on, have some fun, and by all means talk to strangers…just don’t tell them who you really are.
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