re: not seeing the person

Having only recently discovered this forum, I've read the contributions with interest and had some thoughts about the various aspects of realness in cyberspace. As this medium becomes more and more an integrated part of our lives (and age may be a factor here, as there are more people growing up with the internet), it will become increasingly natural to experience others in cyberspace as real, although the personal level of maturity of an individual, as well as other traits, will have an influence.

I encounter people who are only able to see those that they email as real; either they already know their correspondents In Real Life or they conduct business with them, perhaps on a regular basis. For them, the computer is a tool, not a place. Something like a glorified typewriter (or electronic stationary?). The plane remains more two-dimensional than three-dimensional, and although they may use a computer, they don't travel in cyberspace. (An image comes to me from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe of being able to step into a whole other world.)

As for others, their personality structure and level of maturity may result in their inability to see others (whether in cyberspace or IRL) as fully-formed sentient beings with their own thoughts and desires, and they experience others only as objects to be manipulated to meet their own purposes. Just a brief thought; thanks for this forum.

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