Humanity Between Virtual Realm and Reality

“We live in a universe of reality that begins to disappear the moment it happens…”

Jean Baudrillard

The term “The Global Village” is a concept that was used by Canadian author Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book The Gutenberg Galaxy. McLuhan used this concept to explain how the rapid spread of technology and information has made the world smaller. Media theorist McLuhan said in the 60s that with the spread of electronic communication, the world would become like a small community and technological developments would turn the world into a global village. The "Global Village" theory has come true today. Now it is possible to communicate easily and quickly in this global village without any geographical boundaries. This borderless communication has increased the interaction between cultures and caused the formation of a new type of society. McLuhan saw communication tools as extremely positive developments in the development of humanity, depending on technology.

While McLuhan viewed mass media positively with the concept of "global village", French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard adopted a negative attitude towards the change in the communication environment and the new situation created by the media with the "Simulation Theory" he developed. With this theory, Baudrillard has brought a different perspective to today's world with his thoughts on consumer society and media analysis.

What is the simulation universe?

Simulation is the production of reality through models without an origin. Baudrillard; He compared people living in the simulation universe, or in other words, in the virtual world, where no distinction can be made between reality and fantasy, to passengers in deep coma traveling in space under computer control in Kubrick's 2001 movie. “Communication and communication keep society alive like a body. This body maintains all its vital functions such as blood circulation, breathing, metabolism, heartbeat, and cell renewal; just as the passengers on the spaceship maintain their biophysiological functions. There's just nothing about living here.”

With this sentence, Baudrillard states that today's people live under the control of mass media. In addition, the movie The Matrix tells us that the world we live in has turned into a virtual world, and conveys to us a kind of parallel universe that is managed by codes. Our universe is now just another fiction within a fiction. The strange thing is that we can even find it difficult to determine which universe we live in.

After the 1970s, the neo-liberalism order literally dominated the whole world. From the production order to the consumption order. Their living spaces were covered with consumption activities. People began to detach from reality. It was as if they were living in a different world. This new order is the virtual world. The system in this realm imposes its own order. The system has produced its own value and morality mechanism. In order to continue their existence, people have to adapt both intellectually and physically to all the activities of this system. Like everything else in this universe, man has also turned into a sign.

Ordinary people, who adapt themselves to the expectations of the system in order to exist in the virtual universe, are not yet fully aware of the transformation they have undergone. On the other hand, the mass media, which enables the virtual world to exist, also serves to maintain the new system.

Virtual Realm and Mass Media

The excessive speed and abundance of meaning produced by the mass media transform people mentally and adapt them to the consumption order in the direction the system wants. In this context, the news of war shown on television set an example for the violent consumption of daily life.

While technological advances repeat themselves, speed hides existing stagnation. In fact, only virtual reality is preparing itself for the next phases. Speed ​​both increases the credibility of what the system offers and creates the illusion of reality, pulling people into this illusion and transforming people in a way that meets the expectations of the virtual world.

In this new realm, the World Government uses advanced mass media and social media and social engineering to ensure that everyone is always satisfied with the order and that no one has reason to rebel. Personal freedom is now just an appearance in the virtual world.

In fact, we experience limited choices made among the options offered by the system that dominates the virtual world, and most of us are not even aware of this. The differentiations or various customizations are all predetermined in line with a code and model. First a new economic system, then a certain cultural system, and finally a certain type of human being is formed.

This type of person favors the continuation of the existing system in order not to lose their material wealth. The situation is not different for politicians. Different economic policies seem to be determined by politicians in various countries of the world, but almost all of them reflect the understanding of capitalist economy. In fact, even the politicians think they are “managing”, but the really important choices are; It is predetermined by economists, bankers and business people.

“Making meaning” in the virtual world is part of this fictional game. The most effective way of producing meaning is to produce news. A news that consists of a fake, an imaginary scenario or a fiction can be presented to us in an extremely impartial, free and democratic way. The rulers of the Virtual Realm are constantly producing news within the framework they have determined, creating new meanings with them and putting them into circulation. Incessant news bulletins and codes and indicators are constantly repeated so that people do not realize that these manufactured news or real news are presented instead of similar ones. In other words, whether the news is political or cultural: all news is transformed into a miraculous format that does not touch water and soap and is brought back to our screens over and over again. As a result, the news becomes believable and things that don't happen are accepted by the society as "happening". This acceptance ensures the continuation of virtual reality in the virtual world.

The speed provided by mass media has also accelerated human relations. The “time phenomenon” necessary for the deepening and continuity of relations between people has been destroyed. This situation has transformed the relationships between people into superficial and short-term relationships. Speed; It has highlighted the "moments" and human life has almost been divided into moments. Thus, human relations have been cut off from the integrity and their continuity has come to an end.

Mass media also cause an information flow that makes it difficult to understand and impairs rational thinking. We are exposed to an incredible amount of information, and even censors, instead of stopping it, find it sufficient to keep away from real information in order to spread contradictory and misinformation and distract us with unnecessary things. If we have a smart phone, we do not have enough time to look at Wikipedia articles, TED conferences and the agenda on Twitter that we can read and listen to. People around the world are kept one click away from Russia waging war on Ukraine, the melting ice sheet in the Arctic, or the women oppressed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, when you say 'what is going on' to an ordinary person in that intense flow of information, you realize that he continues to watch or read without really understanding what is happening.

As a result of globalization, “silent masses” are taking the place of masses in all societies. Social media, which is a mass media tool, has become a tool of manipulation and propaganda. In addition, social media offers people an unlimited entertainment area. People are now spending their time in simulated lives and fictions in the virtual world, with colorful shows, online games and live video sharing inside computers with bright lights.

Conclusion:

As a result, today's social movements in the virtual world have differentiated from classical social movements. It is focused on cultural and daily life rather than social. Because today, individual values ​​have gained importance. There is a concentration on events related to daily life or related to their own lifestyles. The old social movements had an ideal in themselves, and what was good for society as a whole was considered good for individuals. Whereas, new social movements are movements that pursue specific individual demands and emphasize identity and lifestyle. The reason for this is that in the consumption society, consumption has been taught to the individual, it has become a form of behavior, and as a result, a consumer society has been created as an integrative and controlling social value system.

The system and the individual complement each other mutually. While the individual produces the system to the extent he consumes, the system works for the individual to consume more. Today's Human relations consists of news feeds, circuits and short answer questions. The information and visuals of the “global village” we live in are rapidly consumed in “moments”. Social relations; It is lived in a virtual world with social media tools such as Twitter and Instagram and virtual identities and is consumed in a short time.

References:

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/83900

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/588409

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2053358

Yuval Noah Harari, 21.Yüzyıl için 21 Ders (Çev. Selin Sıral), Kolektif Kitap, Birinci Basım.

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