In this report, I will explore cyberpsychology, cyberspace, virtual reality, and the mind and explain my ideas as well as share the feelings of others. There were many sources used to help me gain a perspective and understanding of the concepts from the
"cyber world" such as Dr. James' article on cyberpsychology, G4s thoughts
and feelings, as well as perspectives from other individuals.
What is cyberpsychology? Cyberspace? And how do these terms relate to the mind? The word cyber is a term used to refer to computers. Therefore, cyberpsychology is the relationship between the computer and the mind. Cyberspace is the space where this
relationship occurs.
In the beginning, I did not know much about cyberspace and virtual reality. I heard of these terms before, but never really tried to understand them. I knew how to work the basic computer functions of e-mail, and the Internet, but I never knew that this
new dimensional medium was capable of so much. I was surprised and amazed at the capabilities and usefulness of the tools on the Internet. Initially, I thought the computer was impersonal and unfriendly, but after a few days exploring some of the seemi
ngly endless functions, I realized I was mistaken. The process of learning about the functions and the interactions seem endless. There÷s always something new or changed out there, cyberspace is about constant change.
The concept of virtual reality is hard to understand as well as define. Dr. James' Cyberpsychology: Principles of Creating Virtual Presence has helped me to begin to understand how cyberspace is relative to th
e mind and the principle behind virtual reality. He believes that the mind and cyberspace create the virtual space or virtual reality. The mind creates emotions, thoughts, feelings which takes up virtual space in a person's brain. This virtual space oc
cupies no physical space and cannot be found. Similarly, cyberspace
does not occupy any physical space and Dr. James' believes this space
exists "without extensions, distance, or mass." The data chips are like
the brain because both are the "physical substances" that hold the
feelings and thoughts of people.
He also believes that the mind exists elsewhere when a person passes on. This is how cyberspace and spirituality are tied together. He uses the word "psyche" to refer to the mind and the spirit. The spiritua
l psychology in cyberspace are the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that a
person reveals on the Internet. According to Dr. James, "Spiritual
psychology studies mind through self-witnessing of one's thoughts and feelings on the daily rounds of activities
." On the Internet, person's thoughts and feelings are found on
their page and can be accessed at any time. An person does not have to
physically present for the access of thoughts to occur or to even exchange feelings or ideas. This makes interaction with others feelings, thoughts, and ideas more convenient and accessible.
Cyberspace is created by the interactivity of the users on the computer. The act of clicking, search engines, e-mail,and chat groups are all types of the many interactive activities that one can experience on the Internet. The Internet is a tool that al
lows a person to interact with others. The Internet allows for a convenient way for two people to communicate or interact with one another. In any given day, many people are busy and can rarely find an agreeable time to meet so e-mail and the Internet a
llows people to keep in touch and share feelings and emotions. An example of this interaction is a person can chat with someone from across the country or someone with similiar interests. I found a chat group that is similar to a support group for peopl
e with similar health problems, it is called Real Time Chat. This was very new and attractive to me because it allowed me to see how useful and functionable the Internet can be. Dr. James' believ
es that "virtual reality is created by interactivity." I have found that on the Internet there are so many ways of interacting that one can be "whisked" away to another dimension.
Another idea that was new and attractive to me was Virtual Reality because this allowed an individual to change their identity. By changing their identity or having their identity anonomous, an individual can freely express themselves. Many people are h
esitant to express or share their feelings, ideas, and thoughts because they are worried about the effects and responses from others.
Ross Takara covers many aspects of cyberpsychology such as its definition, psychological factors, virtual presence, and virtual reality. In defining cyberpsychology, he spl
its the word cyberpsychology into two words. "Cyber is computer and psychology is the study of the mind and human behavior." The computer is the medium where interaction occurs and people communicate. The computer acts as tool that makes interaction be
tween two people possible. He feels that "when people communicate the primary object involved is their mind." The affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor factors of psychology are explained and tied into the definition of cyberspace. Ross believes that
a complete definition of cyberpsychology must include the concept of virtual presence. This concept is unique to cyberpsychology, therefore essential and "would be non-existent because there would be no substantial material online to be examined." He re
fers to Dr. James' definition of virtual presence and agrees that virtual presence is "created through access and usage, which is in turn determined by interests and intentions." Both Dr. James and Ross believe that the interaction creates virtual realit
y . He also defines virtual reality as "different form reality in that it is able to isolate the mind without physical barriers or influences." I agree with him when he says that the human mind being infinite and still not understood.
Ryan
Mitsui explains a virtual world as one that is created when we surf the net. He believes that in cyberspace, we cannot make judgments about a person's physical
appearance. "Cyber Psychology is about our on-line relationships and personalities." We create a relationship or identity while on the Internet and this created relationship or identity also creates virtual reality. The main points that Ryan points ou
t in creating virtual presence are "access and usage." It seems as though he believes that without these two main points, there is no virtual presence. A way to create this virtual presence is to make sure home pages are accessible through links. Ryan
views virtual reality as "more than reality." Fantasy and dreams are not just thoughts, but more than that because it exists "outside the boundaries of reality."
Michelle Alonzoalso breaks the word cyberpsychology into two. First, she defines cyber as the mental environment. She then defines psychology as the study of the mind. According to Michelle, cyberpsychology is "the study of the relationship between the mind and the computer in a mental environment." She believes that to gain understanding of cyber-psychology a person needs to be informed, look at the mind, and the comm unity and their relationship to the computer. The relationship between the cyberspace and the mind are they are both tools that help humans think, feel, and show emotion. She also believes that "cyberspace and the mind are connected spiritually," but to understand the connection, "one must begin with an open mind."
Cyberspace is a place made up by the minds of individuals. In
cyberpsychology,
cyberspace is a meeting place for the mind. The mind's space is non
physical, but filled with emotions, thoughts, and feelings. In computers, this space is also non physical and allows for interactivity of the minds of people by reacting,
clicking,
reading, and responding to the minds of others. The ideas, feelings, and thoughts are produced and created by the human mind and stored in a new dimensional medium which is
cyberspace that is created by the computer. The space where these ideas are located after being entered into the computer is similar to the space that the mind occupies. This is cyberspace, virtual space. According to Dr. James, it is here that things
exist "without extension, distance or mass."
Interactivity also creates cyberspace. Our minds are involved in this
process because it is the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that lead us to click on an interesting word or think about a specific topic in which we use search engines to find. All these types of interactivities involves the mind at some level.
There
fore, cyberspace is made up of
the minds of different people. This report is made up of thoughts,
feelings, ideas from my mind and as we read others reports we see that
their reports are thoughts, feelings, ideas are fr
om their mind. They may have similar ideas or very different, but still the reports are the mind expressed. When we are not physically present at the computer, our spiritual mind is still out in cyberspace for others to access. In the event of our phys
ical death, part of our minds are still alive in cyberspace and as long as people look at our feelings, thoughts, and emotions, that part of our mind is still active.
Cyberspace also entitles an individual to create a virtual identity. This allows for greater access to a person÷s own feelings, thoughts, emotions, and ideas. The virtual identity gives a person more control over their lives and to express themselves mo
re freely. This concept of virtual identity looks promising in helping people overcome stressful events for many reasons. First of all, an individual may freely express their feelings anonomously. Just by being able to see feelings, emotions, ideas, an
d thoughts helps a person release stress and identify problems that are otherwise repressed. This may them lead a person to better coping strategies such as rational thoughts or positive thoughts. The idea of having control over one÷s own life by contro
lling the mind makes dealing with stress easier. Therefore, the creation of virtual identity is cyberspace is helpful in reducing stress and in identifying problems.
I have found many other sites about cyberspace, cyberpsychology, and the mind. Dr. Suler's
explores the "psychological dimensions of the environments created by computers and on-line netwo rks." He also explains how "virtual identities" that people create upon entering a chatroom on the internet provides people with a tool that allows "identity shifting." This protects their true identity and allows people to create another identity. Th is site was very interesting as well as informative. Dr. Suler covers many topics that Dr. James also covered on cyberpsychology. This site is worth visiting!
Staying with the same topic of "virtual identities," I visited Cyber Psych, this site's mission is "bringing high quality, professional psychological care and information to the on-line community." This is an
excellent site to find on-line resources and support groups.
A short article by Storm A. King examines the Psychology of Cyberspace. He asks the questions of where is cyberspace? "A space between terminals? Or a place in our minds?" He also
discusses multiple identities created through "virtual identities" and juxtaposition in time.
There are also conversations about cybercommunities an cyberspace on the Internet. I found a conversation site called Electric Minds. I thought this was an interesting site because p
eople discuss different topics on cyberspace and cybercommunities.
A useful site was the Cyberspace Glossary. This was a helpful site to learn cyberspace language and what certain abbreviations stand for.
If you are interested in find the most up-to date world wide web sites,
visit Surfing Through Cyberspace.
Cyberspace is a meeting place for the minds of individuals. Thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas are created in the mind and expressed in cyberspace. Cyberspace then is a medium like the mind where thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas are stored. Onc
e they are stored in cyberspace, anyone can access them at any time. Both the mind and cyberspace are non physical spaces that houses people÷s thoughts and feelings.
Cyberspace is also a useful tool for expression. The creation of virtual identities lead people to express themselves more freely and release emotions that are built up. People don÷t have to worry about opinions of others because no one will know who th
ey are so this allows for greater expression and self awareness. This expression of thoughts, feelings, emotions is advantageous because it allows a person to rationalize their thoughts, feeling, emotions produced in the mind and take more control over t
heir lives. This reduces the persons stress and also improves their health.
Ross Takara believes that the mind is the primary object involved in communication. This supports my idea that cyberspace and the mind are one because without the mind, communication of ideas would not be possible. Ryan Mitsui believes that we create re
lationships or identities while on the Internet. This created identity helps to express oneself. Michelle Alonzo believes that the relationship between the mind and cyberspace is that they are both tools to help human think. This reinstates what I beli
eve aobu the oneness of the mind and cyberspace. These G4s help to support my belief in how cyberspace and the mind are one. Also it supports my feelings of the usefulness of virtual identity in expressing emotions which help to reduce stress and improv
e health.
 Dr.
James' Home Page |
 Our Class Home Page |
 My Home Page |
 Email
Me |
