The subject of this post may not fit perfectly into the category of 'cyberpunk', but my justification for it is
that we users who come here want to discuss topics and share our opinions with people who share a common
mentality or interest, in this case it is the commonality of 'cyberpunk'.
The main topic of this post is the Internet and social isolation. I will affirm that the Internet and computer
technology has made humans more socially isolated from each other and consequently feelings of loneliness has
become more frequent in the general population. In all forms of text-only communication, there are a number of
factors missing from online communication. Making a post on this board we are not able to see
the faces of each other, so we cannot read the expressions on our faces which is something we naturally do when
we interact with another person in meatspace. We cannot listen to our voices and then we cannot perceive and
interpret the tone of our voices, a quality of social interaction that, for example, is essential in detecting
sarcasm. We are not able to physically touch each other, we cannot experience tactile sensations of affection
with hugs or kissing or even sex. All of these factors are important in forming profound relationships with
other humans. As such, we can recognize that in communicating with each other in the Internet we cannot form
deep, intimate bonds with each other. I belive that this is the cause of our feelings of loneliness, at least
these are the reasons that I think explain the feelings of loneliness I experience. Do you feel lonely?
Also, we may think that online communication is a form of social interaction but I will assert that this is not
accurate. We are able to communicate with each other but not interact with each other, as what I have stated
previously, we cannot physically touch each other and therefore we cannot interact with each other, yet we are
able to exchange information with each other (communicate) but communication is not necessarily interaction
(mutual physical contact).
Now I find inspiration from the genre of cyberpunk to address this issue of social isolation. William Gibson
described the Internet, or something like it, as a consensual hallucination that the users perceive. Our
experiences in the Internet could be made more socially intimate and fulfilling if there was such a device
that would interface directly with our brains to induce false sensations and we perceived these sensations as
the 'cyberspace'. This device would be able to generate sensations of touching another person or even the
sensation of sight to perceive wonderful colors, we would be able to interace with objects in cyberspace by
stimulating our sensation of touch. This is all just an idea and not an original one either, nonetheless I
believe that I have made my point sufficiently. What do you think? Has the Internet and computer technology
made you more lonely?
