Textual
Reality
What is virtual reality? Jaron Lanier, who coined the term, speaks of a "postsymbolic communication," a sort of consensual hallucination between two or more people. MOOspace is therefore "postsymbolic communication" because those participating agree to accept this imaginary world. This agreed upon virtual reality can be very real. Although my "real" reality may be that I am sitting at my desk typing, my virtual reality is that I am talking with a student. But is my conversation a hallucination? If I see my student in class the next day, my conversation will, hopefully, have garnered results. We both feel the impact of our conversation; our virtual reality has become real. As Ellen Ullman, a software engineer and consultant, wrote, "cut off from the real body, we construct a substitute body: ourselves online. We treat it as if it were our actual self, our real life. Over time, it does indeed become our life" (Wired Women 12).
Another example. My husband and I courted each other online. We met at a conference in Utah, I returned to Dallas, he to Albany, New York, and we began meeting in MOOspace. Using text we created our relationship. We wrote our love. When we did get a chance to see each other, at other conferences or at painfully infrequent visits, our online experiences informed our relationship. Online communication in MOOspace was definitely "real" to us.
Richard Lanham, in the Electronic Word, explains that one of the innate and most valuable characteristics of hypertext is that it forces the reader to look at the physical construct of the text while she is absorbing the content. As Marshall McLuhan is often quoted, "the medium is the message." The words I choose to use to respond to another character, the words she chooses to respond to me . . . this web of entangled text is a be-dazzling example of creation mythology. Here in words you have a record of creation of text, here in words you have the text itself. There are no boundaries. There is not one purpose. It is as messy as bodily fluids, and as exhilirating as birth.
But most importantly it does not exclude. Anything that scrolls across the screen becomes another component of the discourse. All are welcome and none are rejected. Perhaps no one will pick up on the topic thread you offered or answer a question you asked, but your voice will be allowed to intermingle with the rest. You will be absorbed into the community.
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To be part of a community, you must supply something the community needs. You take and give in a cycle of reciprocity. An Anglo-Saxon tradition was that to give to someone else created an obligation on their part to give to you. In this way, kings binded their underlords to them. If they did not give something of value (indicating that they did not value a relationship with the underling), it would not be taken and no obligation would be formed (and the ruler would lose precious hands for battle). This same tradition is in effect online today. Many times, we "value" others in the community by what they offer us. Many times, though, we do not look at what we offer in return.
To look at the value of what you proffer, and in MOOspace that is your words, is to look at the semantic context in which you speak. Every word has multitides of meanings; every choice made impacts your success. Crossing this boundary, to see each word and its value and the collective value of your entire utterance, is a difficult one. Suddenly one is aware of the power of language.
To cross this boundary, to wield language, is to enter MOOspace. And slowly, MOOspace will enter real life.