Boomeranged Metaphors

Transferring meaning from virtual reality into physical reality

We use metaphors to introduce unfamiliar technologies: the horseless carriage, the electric candle. Analogies place novel developments within existing structures of meanings and relationships. For digital natives, the online realms may become more familiar than aspects of the ‘real’ world. Warfare is like a first-person shooter, New York is one of many Sim Cities, and peer groups are best understood in terms of how they relate on Facebook. When analogies are transferred from the virtual to the physical world, the traditional flow of meaning is reversed. The metaphor has boomeranged.

Staff Picks

‘Are the advanced ranking systems found in Internet forums perhaps also applicable to the democratic voting process? Can I select a new avatar for myself at the plastic surgeon’s office?’

First Person Shooter Disease

Duke Nukem's disease is a scary one. Gene brings you the story of the life of a First Person Shooter.

Playing Dreams

2006-09-03

Jayne Gackenbach a professor of psychology and sociology at Grant MacEwan College Canada has completed research which claims that video...