A Reaction to Paul Virilio's Thoughts..

Paul Virilio has some interesting points that he addresses in the CTheory interview, but I don't know how much I agree with most of his views. I'm not too sure if I see what he's getting at describing everything as an "accident," or how he describes TV as a "Museum of Accidents."

He makes an interesting point regarding the future:
"We are entering a world where there won't be one but two realities, just like we have two eyes or hear bass and treble tones, just like we now have stereoscopy and stereophony: there will be two realities: the actual, and the virtual."
He continues to state the we have made reality symmetrical. I found this to be a really interesting point of view, and it raises some interesting questions. Is it in our human nature to strive for this symmetry, to bring order and structure to our lives or are we simply reacting to our technological advances?

He also makes it clear that he thinks virtual reality has taken the upper hand to physical reality. I do not agree with this. I think that we are still in a primitive state of technology compared to what it would have to be like for virtual reality to take the upper hand. He talks about how the Gulf War was the first time that the virtual world really played an integral role in our lives. I found it interesting how he says that "The site of defeat or victory was not the ground, but the screen." This makes me think about how important technology is to us, but we take it for granted because it is all around us. I have been raised around technology including computers, video game systems, automated objects, etc., and half of the time I don't even realize their significance because these types of things are so normal to my generation.

Virilio raises some very intriguing opinions on technology and "accidents". While I don't agree with everything he says, it has made me look at technology and the virtual world in a very different way.