Editing Cyberspace (section)

==Alternate realities in philosophy and art==

===Predating computers===
A forerunner of the modern ideas of cyberspace is the [[Descartes|Cartesian]] notion that people might be deceived by an [[evil demon]] that feeds them a false reality. This argument is the direct predecessor of modern ideas of a [[brain in a vat]] and many popular conceptions of cyberspace take Descartes's ideas as their starting point.

[[Visual arts]] have a tradition, stretching [[Zeuxis and Parrhasius|back to antiquity]], of artifacts meant to [[Trompe-l'œil|fool the eye]] and be mistaken for reality. This questioning of reality occasionally led some philosophers and especially theologians<ref>Ranging across history, from the interference of depictions of newly died in the 
[[Great Dreaming]] of Australian aboriginal ancestors; East Roman/Byzantine iconoclasm movements in the 8th and 8th c. CE; in Islam, [[Sunni]] and other exegetes from the 9th century onward; in Judaism, Joseph Karo's [[Shulkhan Arukh]] (Code of Jewish Law: Venice, 1563); and, in the Bahai faith, the concerns of [[Shoghi Effendi]], the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith (1921–57).</ref> to distrust art as deceiving people into entering a world which was not real (see [[Aniconism]]). The artistic challenge was resurrected with increasing ambition as art became more and more realistic with the invention of photography, film (see ''[[L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat|Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat]]''), and immersive computer simulations.

===Influenced by computers===

====Philosophy====
American [[counterculture]] exponents like [[William S. Burroughs]] (whose literary influence on Gibson and cyberpunk in general is widely acknowledged<ref>Alexander Laurence, [http://www.altx.com/int2/john.shirley.html An Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103104953/http://www.altx.com/int2/john.shirley.html |date=2007-01-03 }} with [[John Shirley]], 1994</ref><ref>[http://www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/CyberCulture/bgtg.htm "Burroughs/Gysin/Throbbing Gristle"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113202227/http://www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/CyberCulture/bgtg.htm |date=2006-11-13 }}, retrieved December 31, 2006</ref>) and [[Timothy Leary]]<ref>"Internet will be the LSD of the 90s", quoted by [http://www.timothyleary.us/timothyleary.html an on-line biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209063453/http://www.timothyleary.us/timothyleary.html |date=2006-12-09 }}</ref> were among the first to extol the potential of computers and computer networks for individual empowerment.<ref>[[Douglas Rushkoff]], [http://www.deepleafproductions.com/utopialibrary/text/rushkoff-godfathers.html "Godfathers of Cyberspace"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214074317/http://www.deepleafproductions.com/utopialibrary/text/rushkoff-godfathers.html |date=2006-12-14 }}</ref>

Some contemporary philosophers and scientists (e.g. [[David Deutsch]] in ''The Fabric of Reality'') employ virtual reality in various [[thought experiment]]s. For example, Philip Zhai in ''Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality'' connects cyberspace to the Platonic tradition:

{{blockquote|Let us imagine a nation in which everyone is hooked up to a network of VR infrastructure. They have been so hooked up since they left their mother's wombs. Immersed in cyberspace and maintaining their life by teleoperation, they have never imagined that life could be any different from that. The first person that thinks of the possibility of an alternative world like ours would be ridiculed by the majority of these citizens, just like the few enlightened ones in Plato's allegory of the cave.<ref>{{cite book |last= Zhai|first= Philip|author-link= Philip Zhai|date= 1998|title= Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality|edition= 1st|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield|page= 82|isbn=9780847689835}}</ref>}}

Note that this [[brain-in-a-vat]] argument conflates cyberspace with [[reality]], while the more common descriptions of cyberspace contrast it with the "real world".

===Cyber-Geography===
The “Geography of Notopia” (Papadimitriou, 2006) theorizes about the complex interplay of cyber-cultures and the geographical space. This interplay has several philosophical and psychological facets (Papadimitriou, 2009).

====A New Communication Model====

The [[technological convergence]] of the [[mass media]] is the result of a long adaptation process of their communicative resources to the evolutionary changes of each historical moment. Thus, the new media became (plurally) an extension of the traditional media in cyberspace, allowing to the public access information in a wide range of digital devices.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Communication Model of Virtual Universe |publisher = Grin Verlag|date = 2014-01-28|location = Munich|isbn = 9783656569916|first1 = Marcelo Mendonca|last1 = Teixeira|first2 = Tiago Alessandro Espinola|last2 = Ferreira}}</ref> In other words, it is a cultural virtualization of human reality as a result of the migration from physical to virtual space (mediated by the ICTs), ruled by codes, signs and particular social relationships. Forwards, arise instant ways of communication, interaction and possible quick access to information, in which we are no longer mere senders, but also producers, reproducers, co-workers and providers. New technologies also help to "connect" people from different cultures outside the virtual space, which was unthinkable fifty years ago. In this giant relationships web, we mutually absorb each other's beliefs, customs, values, laws and habits, cultural legacies perpetuated by a physical-virtual dynamics in constant metamorphosis (ibidem). In this sense, Professor Doctor Marcelo Mendonça Teixeira created, in 2013, a new model of communication to the virtual universe,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Communication Model of Virtual Universe: Amazon.co.uk: Marcelo MendonÃ§a Teixeira, Tiago Alessandro EspÃnola Ferreira: 9783656569916: Books |id={{ASIN|3656569916|country=uk}} }}</ref> based in Claude Elwood Shannon (1948) article "A Mathematical Theory of Communication".

====Art====
{{Main|New media art}}

Having originated among writers, the concept of cyberspace remains most popular in literature and film. Although artists working with other media have expressed interest in the concept, such as [[Roy Ascott]], "cyberspace" in [[digital art]] is mostly used as a synonym for [[immersive virtual reality]] and remains more discussed than enacted.<ref>Eduardo Kac, [http://www.ekac.org/Telepresence.art._94.html ''"Telepresence Art"''] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090713053014/http://www.ekac.org/Telepresence.art._94.html |date=2009-07-13 }}</ref>

====Computer crime====
{{Main|Computer crime}}

Cyberspace also brings together every service and facility imaginable to expedite money laundering. One can purchase anonymous credit cards, bank accounts, encrypted global mobile telephones, and false passports. From there one can pay professional advisors to set up IBCs (International Business Corporations, or corporations with anonymous ownership) or similar structures in OFCs (Offshore Financial Centers). Such advisors are loath to ask any penetrating questions about the wealth and activities of their clients, since the average fees criminals pay them to launder their money can be as much as 20 percent.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/1467-8497.00284 |title=Dot.Con: The Dangers of Cyber Crime and a Call for Proactive Solutions |journal=Australian Journal of Politics and History |volume=49 |pages=102–109 |year=2003 |last1=Granville |first1=Johanna }}</ref>

====5-level model====
In 2010, a five-level model was designed in France. According to this model, cyberspace is composed of five layers based on information discoveries: 1) language, 2) writing, 3) printing, 4) Internet, 5) Etc., i.e. the rest, e.g. [[noosphere]], [[artificial life]], artificial intelligence, etc., etc. This original model links the world of information to telecommunication technologies.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}