Defining Cyberspace: Does it really exist?
When typing 'cyberspace' into Google images, pictures of electronic beams, the human brain and high tech computers in green and black are shown as results. Also evident when typing in 'air'. Pictures of the sky, aeroplanes and the newest ‘Nike air shoe’ are Google’s only result. This is because both terms do not depict something visible; an image. These terms are names we give to something that we cannot particularly see or describe, but we know is existent.
Cyberspace is further described by Bruce Sterling, through the idea of a telephone conversation. Cyberspace is “The place between the phones” (Sterling 1994, p.g 1). Sterling (1994) goes on to explain Cyberspace as an “indefinite” space or world, where people can communicate.
Cyberspace can be defined in two terms. The word “Cyber” is derived from the Greek verb “Kubernao” which means “to steer”, while “space” means something perhaps a little more in depth. This term can be split into three aspects according to F. Heylighen (2000). Space is a “virtually infinite extension” which in briefer terms suggests that it’s so big; we cannot grasp it all at once. Space “connotes the idea of free movement”, which allows its users to “visit” different countries and states. Space, lastly, has a strong connection to geometry which allows for the idea of “distance, direction and dimension” (Heylighen, 2000).
So, in answer to the question; is Cyberspace real? We can only assume that yes, it is. Although we cannot see it, or feel it, the concept is plausible. It is a virtual world that is forever growing and adapting. It is a virtual world that we are a part of.
When typing 'cyberspace' into Google images, pictures of electronic beams, the human brain and high tech computers in green and black are shown as results. Also evident when typing in 'air'. Pictures of the sky, aeroplanes and the newest ‘Nike air shoe’ are Google’s only result. This is because both terms do not depict something visible; an image. These terms are names we give to something that we cannot particularly see or describe, but we know is existent.
Cyberspace is further described by Bruce Sterling, through the idea of a telephone conversation. Cyberspace is “The place between the phones” (Sterling 1994, p.g 1). Sterling (1994) goes on to explain Cyberspace as an “indefinite” space or world, where people can communicate.
Cyberspace can be defined in two terms. The word “Cyber” is derived from the Greek verb “Kubernao” which means “to steer”, while “space” means something perhaps a little more in depth. This term can be split into three aspects according to F. Heylighen (2000). Space is a “virtually infinite extension” which in briefer terms suggests that it’s so big; we cannot grasp it all at once. Space “connotes the idea of free movement”, which allows its users to “visit” different countries and states. Space, lastly, has a strong connection to geometry which allows for the idea of “distance, direction and dimension” (Heylighen, 2000).
So, in answer to the question; is Cyberspace real? We can only assume that yes, it is. Although we cannot see it, or feel it, the concept is plausible. It is a virtual world that is forever growing and adapting. It is a virtual world that we are a part of.
REFERENCE LIST:
Sterling B, 1994, The Hacker Crackdown, viewed 24 August 2011, http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/sterling/bruce/hacker/introduction.html
Heylighen F, 2000, Principia Cybernetica Web: Cyberspace, viewed 21 August 2011, http://pcp.lanl.gov/CYBSPACE.html
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