Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 20:06:10 -0600 (MDT)
From: Krueger <Patrick.Krueger-AT-colorado.edu>
Subject: Re: ICQ




> Human existence has entered a phase where life is defined by the 
> attempt to bypass the rigidity of the human body. It is only 
> malleable to a certain extent and the limit will soon be reached 
> (plastic surgery is the last gasp of bodily metamorphosis). Virtual 
> reality, on the other hand, promises infinite possibilities of 
> simulated identities. The human body will remain the condition of 
> possibility of simulated identities, but it's physicality will 
> crumple away at the speed of the technological development. In the 
> end, the vegetative body, wrapped in a data-suit, will be sealed 
> behind concrete walls keeping the chaos of the 'real' world at a 
> pleasant distance.

I really like that line about the "vegetative body wrapped in a
data-suit",... but how will the 'real world' be kept at a distance?  I
mean, what institution is really in place that can or will provide for
this evasion of reality on what is apparently a pro bono basis?  I cannot
see what a corporation would get out of this; but if it werent a
corporation wouldn't a machine the size of the government be necessary?
Not only to fund the processors for the computer, but to ensure a crash
free existance -- testing for bugs in the software and using the force of
the militia to guarantee a constant supply of electricity?  Hell, if one
wanted to ditch the body, I hear that some good heroine is par excellance,
and it comes with relatively better corporeal results.  I liked that
vegetable line though,... as if it were indicative of something...

PMK