대안과 도피, 혹은 강요된 연결: 가상현실에 대한 과학소설적 상상과 저커버스의 메타버스 담론
Cyberspace, Metaverse, Meta: Differing Conceptualizations of Virtual Reality
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The metaverse, a concept of shared virtual reality that captured the public imagination in 2021 and 2022, derives its name and conceptual foundation from science fiction. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the connection between real-life and digital identities in the contemporary discourse diverges significantly from its fictional origins and later depictions in popular culture. This article demonstrates these contrasting conceptualizations by analyzing the portrayal of cyberspace in William Gibson's Neuromancer, which pioneered the idea of digitally constructed alternative spaces, and Mark Zuckerberg's 2021 Facebook Connect speech, which sparked the metaverse boom with the announcement of Facebook's transition to Meta. Gibson envisions cyberspace as an alternative realm where agency and subversion precluded in the material realities of the dystopian future are made possible. Such a possibility cannot be found in Zuckerberg's conception of Meta, which aims to blur the boundary between physical and virtual spaces. Ironically, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, from which the term metaverse originates, offers one of the most compelling warnings against the danger of such excessive connectivity through its depiction of the metaverse as a degraded version of cyberspace and the overly connected minds as a contagious disease.
Abstract
The metaverse, a concept of shared virtual reality that captured the public imagination in 2021 and 2022, derives its name and conceptual foundation from science fiction. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the connection between real-life and digital identities in the contemporary discourse diverges significantly from its fictional origins and later depictions in popular culture. This article demonstrates these contrasting conceptualizations by analyzing the portrayal of cyberspace in William Gibson's Neuromancer, which pioneered the idea of digitally constructed alternative spaces, and Mark Zuckerberg's 2021 Facebook Connect speech, which sparked the metaverse boom with the announcement of Facebook's transition to Meta. Gibson envisions cyberspace as an alternative realm where agency and subversion precluded in the material realities of the dystopian future are made possible. Such a possibility cannot be found in Zuckerberg's conception of Meta, which aims to blur the boundary between physical and virtual spaces. Ironically, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, from which the term metaverse originates, offers one of the most compelling warnings against the danger of such excessive connectivity through its depiction of the metaverse as a degraded version of cyberspace and the overly connected minds as a contagious disease.
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