Chapter 2
In chapter two Boellstorff explores the history of the virtual world. He explains that the virtual world has always existed in one form or another to humans. He uses the example of cave paintings and the way that symbols open up the possibility of imaginary worlds. He defines this as, “Any system devised for losing ourselves in another world.” At first I thought of this as a crazy idea, but after I really thought it out, I realized that in some ways we have been conditioned to escape reality since we were toddlers. I can remember playing pretend when I was little, and according to Boellstorff that would be considered virtual reality, becasue I was losing myself in a world other than my current reality. However I usually link the word virtual to some sort of computer mediated object. It is hard for me to think of virtual reality in the terms of Platos Allegory of the cave.