Virtual(ly) Reality

 vir·tu·al·ly

adv
\ˈvər-chə-wə-lē, -chə-lē; ˈvərch-wə-lē\

Definition of VIRTUALLY

1 : almost entirely : nearly

2: for all practical purposes <virtually unknown>

The term “virtual reality” seems to be becoming more common in our lexicon. When I look at these two words together, it becomes apparent to me that virtual reality is an oxymoron, as much as “open secret” or “larger half” is. Most of us are aware of how an oxymoron is two terms that contradict each other and logically can’t be used in conjunction with one another.

I contend that Virtual Reality is another oxymoron – you cannot say that something “almost entirely” exists. If something fully exists – it’s reality, if it almost entirely exists, then it cannot be.

So many times this term is tossed around as if the two terms were complementary, but they’re not. I think that this is a symptom of our society. There almost seems to be this underlying thought that the lives we live online are just about comparable to the world we live off-line.

I look at social networking and see how people are proud of the fact that they have 452 friends on Facebook. Most of these people aren’t “friends”; they are people that you know in varying degrees of detail. For anyone with 452 friends, I challenge you to take 10 names of friends at random and step away from the computer and write down what they’re doing in their lives. I’m betting with the bevy of status updates and tweets that most people don’t follow more than 10% of their “friend base”.

Using social networking CAN be an effective communications tool once the relationship has been nurtured and established. It can be a wonderful medium where a loved one or a classmate lives across the country but not to the exclusion of the personal touch.

For me though, there’s no substitute for being the same room with a person. Being in person allows me to hear her voice, to see her smile or a flit of anger in her eyes. It’s impossible to communicate the same way online and words can be misconstrued.

One of the tenets of science faction (my term for technologies that aren’t here yet, but are probably inevitable, or at least they are feasible) is the development of technologies that allow lovers to experience touch via specially designed suits that are programmed to apply pressure according to signals received from their mate. The thing is that I don’t think that this would even be a pale comparison of the real thing. In this instance, it’s really still just a machine that’s applying pressure even though it’s controlled by the person on the other end. I doubt if any technology would be developed that would allow someone to be truly caressed from afar.

Social networking does have its benefits - in a limited and a reasonable context. Where we fail as a society though is where people think that the technology replaces instead of enhances the physicality of being with a person. If and when that ever changes and if technology develops to the point where this type of interaction is the norm …well…that is the point where I’ll just get off of this technological merry-go-round.