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Virtual Gods
Millions of computer users have discovered that cyberspace allows them to leap over barriers of time and space, with sudden access to almost magical powers, including a vast array of social networks connecting them with people from all over the world.
New doorways in cyberspace constantly open in this rapidly expanding digital universe. Interactive computer games have taken off like rock concerts. Virtual reality and holograms are poised to explode. Digital special effects in movies such as James Cameron's groundbreaking film Avatar --shown in 3-D IMAX with compelling scenes of computer-generated synthetic reality--show where this technology is going and audiences can barely wait for the next leap beyond Avatar.
The first edition of Virtual Gods came out just as the Web was forming. The book foresaw deeper philosophical issues, including social networking's downside of alienation alongside new realms of temptation. Milestones have come and gone, such as Google appearing out of nowhere, becoming giant-sized overnight. Then a Harvard dropout named Mark Zuckerberg gave the world Facebook, becoming a billionaire in his twenties. Facebook has shown how untold numbers crave social connection so desperately--even from people they don't know--that they will divulge anything to drive their ratings up. Life in cyberspace is different.
Virtual Gods is a book written before its time. It explores the early days of this technology as well as doorways still ahead that could open the way to a future only partially glimpsed by such visionary writers as Aldous Huxley, author of the prescient Brave New World . There are invasive aspects to this emerging technology, revealed in this 2011 edition, that would have given visionary writer George Orwell the chills. Cyberspace holds a Pandora's box into the future, promising utopia but able to take those seeking unlimited freedom into an unseen trap able to hold them as effectively as any prison. This almost limitless electronic horizon needs a deeper look.
New doorways in cyberspace constantly open in this rapidly expanding digital universe. Interactive computer games have taken off like rock concerts. Virtual reality and holograms are poised to explode. Digital special effects in movies such as James Cameron's groundbreaking film Avatar --shown in 3-D IMAX with compelling scenes of computer-generated synthetic reality--show where this technology is going and audiences can barely wait for the next leap beyond Avatar.
The first edition of Virtual Gods came out just as the Web was forming. The book foresaw deeper philosophical issues, including social networking's downside of alienation alongside new realms of temptation. Milestones have come and gone, such as Google appearing out of nowhere, becoming giant-sized overnight. Then a Harvard dropout named Mark Zuckerberg gave the world Facebook, becoming a billionaire in his twenties. Facebook has shown how untold numbers crave social connection so desperately--even from people they don't know--that they will divulge anything to drive their ratings up. Life in cyberspace is different.
Virtual Gods is a book written before its time. It explores the early days of this technology as well as doorways still ahead that could open the way to a future only partially glimpsed by such visionary writers as Aldous Huxley, author of the prescient Brave New World . There are invasive aspects to this emerging technology, revealed in this 2011 edition, that would have given visionary writer George Orwell the chills. Cyberspace holds a Pandora's box into the future, promising utopia but able to take those seeking unlimited freedom into an unseen trap able to hold them as effectively as any prison. This almost limitless electronic horizon needs a deeper look.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
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