Thirty years ago, an online sexual assault challenged our very assumptions about the real and the virtual. With the rapid rise of the Metaverse, we are no closer to answering the questions it raised.
Read some of the 60’s and early 70’s finest science fiction writers. Heinlein, Clarke etc portraying the average worker climbing high their tall tower - environment nearly destroyed. Onto their chair, ingest the best chemicals to move into a dream world of a seeming true paradise. Once the 8 hour time is up, everyone unhooks to go to their near destroyed world to endure their miserable job and repeat, forever?
A fascinating story. I think of the Internet as a place where norms are weak, bordering on anarchy: a norm consists of (a) a rule and (b) some kind of sanction or punishment for violating that rule. On Internet forums, there's a lot of interactions which aren't subject to oversight ("moderation") for anything except the grossest of offenses. The self-help solution - showering an offender with verbal abuse ("flaming") - just aggravates the problem.
Bruce Sterling, "The Hacker Crackdown" (1992):
"Boards can be distinguished by the amount of effort spent in regulating them. First, we have the completely open board, whose sysop is off chugging brews and watching re-runs while his users generally degenerate over time into peevish anarchy and eventual silence. Second comes the supervised board, where the sysop breaks in every once in a while to tidy up, calm brawls, issue announcements, and rid the community of dolts and troublemakers. Third is the heavily supervised board, which sternly urges adult and responsible behavior and swiftly edits any message considered offensive, impertinent, illegal or irrelevant. And last comes the completely edited 'electronic publication,' which is presented to a silent audience which is not allowed to respond directly in any way."
What's interesting is that Lawrence Lessig's whole dive into the ways in which things get regulated in cyberspace -- his inspiration for writing Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace -- came from reading Dibbell's piece, apparently.
Guess I should read it! My thinking on norms and the Internet mostly comes from Hans Morgenthau's description of the anarchic nature of international politics. https://russilwvong.com/blog/norms
Fascinating. I've occasionally pondered the VR future when we all live online in increasingly large-as-life scenarios. Not long ago, people were purchasing real estate in the metaverse! Still are, for all I know. Actual bands performing on Fortnite and such. For a certain type of person, I imagine it will be more a real world than the physical one.
I vividly recall early morning sessions - 1993 or so - with my new computer system allowing me to experience the surreal world of 2nd Life avatars.
Eerie, even gently creepy electronic versions of British pop music, as people all over the world, with their names hanging above their heads are they weirdly roamed about.
One could purchase building materials to build their home/community, like someday Mars will someday colonize.
I vividly remember this strange software program that allowed me to wander the digital world to surreal music…….unless I’ve been stoned for a decade and very wrong 🙈😳
That's funny. I first came across his article in 2001 or so. I had got hired at Trent as a sessional lecturer, and they asked me to teach their new Cybermorality course. There were only one or two half decent textbooks at the time, but the one I used had some great pieces in it, including Dibbell's piece and the amazing Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace -- which I will write about here at some point.
Read some of the 60’s and early 70’s finest science fiction writers. Heinlein, Clarke etc portraying the average worker climbing high their tall tower - environment nearly destroyed. Onto their chair, ingest the best chemicals to move into a dream world of a seeming true paradise. Once the 8 hour time is up, everyone unhooks to go to their near destroyed world to endure their miserable job and repeat, forever?
A fascinating story. I think of the Internet as a place where norms are weak, bordering on anarchy: a norm consists of (a) a rule and (b) some kind of sanction or punishment for violating that rule. On Internet forums, there's a lot of interactions which aren't subject to oversight ("moderation") for anything except the grossest of offenses. The self-help solution - showering an offender with verbal abuse ("flaming") - just aggravates the problem.
Bruce Sterling, "The Hacker Crackdown" (1992):
"Boards can be distinguished by the amount of effort spent in regulating them. First, we have the completely open board, whose sysop is off chugging brews and watching re-runs while his users generally degenerate over time into peevish anarchy and eventual silence. Second comes the supervised board, where the sysop breaks in every once in a while to tidy up, calm brawls, issue announcements, and rid the community of dolts and troublemakers. Third is the heavily supervised board, which sternly urges adult and responsible behavior and swiftly edits any message considered offensive, impertinent, illegal or irrelevant. And last comes the completely edited 'electronic publication,' which is presented to a silent audience which is not allowed to respond directly in any way."
What's interesting is that Lawrence Lessig's whole dive into the ways in which things get regulated in cyberspace -- his inspiration for writing Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace -- came from reading Dibbell's piece, apparently.
Guess I should read it! My thinking on norms and the Internet mostly comes from Hans Morgenthau's description of the anarchic nature of international politics. https://russilwvong.com/blog/norms
Fascinating. I've occasionally pondered the VR future when we all live online in increasingly large-as-life scenarios. Not long ago, people were purchasing real estate in the metaverse! Still are, for all I know. Actual bands performing on Fortnite and such. For a certain type of person, I imagine it will be more a real world than the physical one.
Yeah -- and how exactly we govern it, and ourselves while "there", is something we remain completely unprepared for.
That's what I worry about.
I vividly recall early morning sessions - 1993 or so - with my new computer system allowing me to experience the surreal world of 2nd Life avatars.
Eerie, even gently creepy electronic versions of British pop music, as people all over the world, with their names hanging above their heads are they weirdly roamed about.
One could purchase building materials to build their home/community, like someday Mars will someday colonize.
Any other experiences to share?
Wait, you were playing Second Life in 1993? I thought it launched a decade later...
I vividly remember this strange software program that allowed me to wander the digital world to surreal music…….unless I’ve been stoned for a decade and very wrong 🙈😳
I used to read the Village Voice every week! I remember reading Dibble’s article and I’m still wondering about it …
That's funny. I first came across his article in 2001 or so. I had got hired at Trent as a sessional lecturer, and they asked me to teach their new Cybermorality course. There were only one or two half decent textbooks at the time, but the one I used had some great pieces in it, including Dibbell's piece and the amazing Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace -- which I will write about here at some point.
Really enjoying your writing! 😎🍻👍