On The Relation Between Virtuality And Reality In Internet Environment

This paper is a systematic study of the relation between virtuality and reality in internet environment from the perspective of internet philosophy. The author puts forward a theory of"internet duality of virtuality and reality"based on the fruit of previous study of the relation between virtuality and reality. The theory of"internet duality of virtuality and reality"holds that virtuality is not only a form of existence, but also an important aspect of human conscience. As a kind of complicated contradictory existence, the internet world is not only virtual, as is known to many people, but also has its deep reality behind its virtualness. The contradiction between virtualness and reality is the basic contradiction of the internet world. Materialistic monism, dualism of spirit and matter, various theories of"three words"are not capable of explaining the internet world properly. The theory of"four basic forms of existence"can be used to explain the internet world, which has three dimensions of technological world, social world, and human world, all of which imply the dual property of virtualness and reality. Between virtuality and reality, there exist some basic relations in the following four aspects: difference, identity, oppositeness and unity. These four basic relations provide us with a lot of inspirations. These four aspects of the relation between virtuality and reality can be summarized in one proposition, that is: internet is an extension of reality. Internet is not only an extension of real human beings, but also of real society. Strong relation or weak relation may emerge between virtuality and reality, and we should choose the former; virtuous relation or vicious relation may form between virtuality and reality, and still the former should be our choice. In current studies of the relation between the internet world and the real world, two most influential arguments are"Internet Dystopian"and"Internet Utopia". As a matter of fact, internet is neither a pitch-dark Dystopian, nor the best and the most beautiful"Utopia". In a certain sense, the internet world has some characteristics of Utopia, such as independence, equality, freedom,happiness, autonomy and universalism; however, these characteristics are strongly superficial and formal. The fundamental reason why the internet world cannot become Utopia is that it is an extension of the real world, and that between the internet world and the real world there exist very complicated interactional relations. In the internet age, a serious problem human beings are facing is the conflict between virtuality and reality. The conflict between virtuality and reality is very harmful to the all-round development of society and man. In order to resolve this conflict, we should try our best to promote virtuous interaction between virtuality and reality, thus realizing the harmony between them. The harmony between virtuality and reality is a basic value which people should strive for in the internet age. It is not only necessary, but also possible.