While reading Cyberpsychology: Principles of Creating Virtual Presence by Dr. James, the reader will learn about what cyberpsychology is and all of it's components, especially on virtual reality and it's relation to the mind.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is really a component of a person's mind. It doesn't have a physical being, but it exists in virtual space. A person creates virtual reality, in it'ssimplest form by clicking on a link, which automatically takes the individual to a totally different area of cyberspace. One may also enter virtual reality via search engines, newsgroups, chat rooms, etc. Another way that a person may create virtual reality is through e-mail. This is where an individual communicates with a person of their choice, using his/her computer as the medium. This is a very rapid way of sending messagesto various people. Virtual reality is also advantageous to a person because it enables him/her to get feedback from various people's about a certain subject. For example, if I were to write a paper and wanted some constructive criticism on how I may improve it, instead of waiting for that certain phone call, or letter to arrive in the mail, I can simply get all of the information via the internet. You may reach many people at one timeusing one medium where as with regular U.S. postal mail, it would take a lot more time and effort to accomplish the same thing.

What is the mind?

Our mind, just as with virtual reality, exists without physical form. It does not carry any weight, nor does it have mass. The mind differs from the brain in that the mind is where all of our feelings and thoughts are conjured, where as ourbrain figures out what we are going to do with all of our thoughts. The brain is also a physical being. We can see, touch, feel, smell the brain and on the other hand, the mind is untouchable.

What is the relationship with virtual reality and the mind?

As I have mentioned before, both the mind and virtual reality are beings with no form. The real relationship virtual reality and the mind is thatthe mind actually exists in virtual reality. It is in virtual reality that the mind is able to "work". Using virtual space and a computer as mediums, the mind is able to express itself. It extends it's thoughts not only to the brain, but also onto the screen as a person explores whatever interests him/her.

Three ideas that most interested me while reading Cyberpsychology are:

1) Forming a Virtual Community, 2) Spirituality and Cyberspace, 3) Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship. While reading the section on forming a virtual community, I discovered thatusing a computer was more than just typing papers, and sending e-mail. It can actually be used to form friendships. Dr. James speaks of how some students who were using the PLATO computer system, logged on under pseudonames. I feel that this is beneficial for those people who have a hard time opening up to others, because now they are protecting their identity, so they can speak what they feel, and no one willknow who they really are. This also interests me because while talking to others on the computers, people have no physical being to base their opinions on. They just have to go by what is said through the typed conversations. This may also help those to "come out of their shell" and also may aid in building more self confidence in a person. Secondly, Spirituality and Cyberspace caught my attention. I agree with Dr. James in that he says that "When we choose to click on a hypertext link we are performing a spiritual act." I find this to be true simply because whether a person decides to look up recipes for chili or to click on a pornographic page, says a lot about a person. The individual had a choice of whether to click on pornographic material or not, and with his/her choice, comes assumptions of what kind of morale system thatperson lives by. This principle can be related to all choices that we make in our lives. Whether or not a person decides to have a baby or to get an abortion speaks about her morals and belief systems. The same holds true while "surfing the internet." Lastly, Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship interested me. I never realized how vast the cyber community was. It is true that in the very near future, if not the present, learning how to use the internet and all of it's accessories is going to be considered common knowledge. Just as when my parents were growing up, just graduating from high school was enough, but in present times, one needs at least their master's degree in order for them to make a decent living. Dr. James also spoke of technophobia. I can definitely relate to this concept. When I first entered this class, I was totally computerilliterate, and was literally afraid of "hurting" a computer if I did anything wrong. I found that this phobia did hold me back, so I needed to deal with it in order for this class to be a success for me.

Generation Four Says...

I read through the reports of Jean Leong, and

What I am Saying...

In the beginning of the course while Dr. James was trying to get across the idea that the mind and brain were two different entities, I thought that he was crazy. But now that I have read and understand the Cyberpsychology page, Iunderstand and agree that indeed, the brain and mind are two totally different things. I see where he is coming from when he says that, "the mind is not in physical space." Your mind is the carrier of your innermost thoughts, fears, and faults. Where as your brain just carries out functions, and directs your body where to go and what to do.