Page - 137 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 137 even power that he or she would not otherwise have. For example, cyberspace computer games give players the possibility to do new things  – even extraor- dinary things  – that they would not otherwise be able to do in real ordinary life.152 This was reflected, for instance, in the 2011 science-fiction novel Ready Player One,153 written by the American author Ernest Cline and made into a film of the same name by Steven Spielberg in 2018, which presents a society in which the principal aim of many people is to escape the real world. The story is set in the 2040s, where an overpopulation, energy and global warm- ing crisis has given rise to significant poverty. In the midst of this harsh real world, many people seek refuge in the virtual and far more attractive world of the OASIS, a setting that is made even more real through the use of visors and haptic technology, which re-creates the sense of touch in the body of the user through the use of gloves and body suits. However, the further individuals become immersed in the virtual world, the harder it may be for them to cope with the problems and challenges of real life. As a result, the desire to escape from the real world to a virtual one becomes increasingly stronger. Accepting present reality in a spirit of humility and service may seem more and more difficult. Many people also have ambitions and aspirations, but find it difficult to implement these in real life. By escaping reality, they may be able to create their own world, which they can control. The adventure survival video game No Man’s Sky, released in 2016, developed and published by the British studio Hello Games, involves bringing into being a new universe by enabling a person to quickly create planets and change things at the push of a few buttons.154 But such cybergames are still based on aspects of reality, enabling players to recognise the virtual environment. One of the ways in which this is done is by using the following three existential characteristics: 1. Defining the beginning and ending of an existence: birth and death delin- eate an individual’s existence and without these attributes, it would be difficult to place a virtual existence. 2. Creating a context of time: this enables a sense of continuity between past, present and future  – for example, future consequences are based on past events. 3. Enabling a sense of fragility and suffering: this reflects the finite and vulnerable aspects of life.155 If these three features are simply ignored or dismissed in virtual reality, it may eventually not represent any reality at all.156 But merely replicating these real- ity features in cyberspace would only re-create a situation from which persons This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.