Cause and Effect?

• What makes cyberspace interesting? by John Suler, 6/26/97
  • Real? by Kirk May, 6/28/97
    • Yup, real by John Suler, 6/28/97
      
      

(Better late than ever)....

You ask: "I'm wondering, though whether cyberspace CAUSES any disorders in people, or magnifies what is already there."

My feeling is that the reinforcement rate and magnitude does magnify the experience of "reality" and "connectedness" and they constitute primary reinforcers. I think, though, having PERMISSION to "let it all hang out" behind the mask of an avatar, may amplify the intensity of affect and the ease of acting out impulses.

• re: cause and effect by John Suler, 9/6/97