Virtual Worlds: Is the Virtual Unreal?

There has been much discussion over the question Is the Virtual Unreal? It was determined by the class that the virtual is unreal in some ways, but also real in a lot of other ways. For example, even though virtual worlds do not physically exist, the emotions experienced by the “players” within the virtual worlds are very real. In some cases, the emotions experienced in the virtual worlds surpassed those experienced by the individual in the real world. In other words, I think that in many cases people turn to virtual worlds because they feel that they are missing some emotional aspect in their real, physical life.

Although I understand this argument for virtual worlds, I personally think that emotions are dulled in the virtual world. For example, if one falls in love in the virtual world, it is obviously better than not finding love in any world, but it would not be a great as falling in love in the real, physical world. Many people who enjoy spending time and living in the virtual world talked about how they create avatars, who are representative of the person that the real, physical individual aspires to become. Well, if you fall in love in the virtual world, wouldn’t that love be bitter sweet? Because wouldn’t the real, physical individual always wonder to him/herself whether his avatar partner could love the real, physical, imperfect version of him/herself. Also, even though sex in virtual worlds is possible, it clearly would not be as good as the real, physical act. Lastly, in the “Virtual Worlds, Virtual Lives” clip the one girl’s avatar was raped and she felt a lot of the emotional baggage associated with the experience. Even though rape is a horrible and hateful crime in any world, I feel confident that, that girl would rather her avatar be raped than she. Virtual Worlds can help enhance the emotionally unfilled lives of real, physical people, but I do not believe that virtual experiences could ever replace or surpass real-life experiences, because the extreme emotions that make life so great and so awful can never be transferred to the virtual world.