A world populated only by lurkers would be as empty as a ghost town, like a neutron-bombed Vegas with lights blazing and no visitors…but worse: the night air would have eyes … A virtual world consisting of living representations of real people and with a bare minimum of architecture would fare better than a virtual world in which the reverse was the case.
Predictor: Benedikt, Michael L.
Prediction, in context:In his 1994 essay “Physics for Phantoms,” Michael Benedikt advocates the need for a counting system that not only records number of people “present” in cyberspace but also “their detailed personal characteristics or actions.” He says: ”We learn from the collective actions of others what is good to do, where it is good to be, when it is good to go. We may follow the crowd; we may not. But a world populated only by lurkers would be as empty as a ghost town, like a neutron-bombed Vegas with lights blazing and no visitors…but worse: the night air would have eyes … A virtual world consisting of living representations of real people and with a bare minimum of architecture would fare better than a virtual world in which the reverse was the case.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Virtual Communities
Name of publication: Softworlds Inc.
Title, headline, chapter name: Physics for Phantoms
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.ar.utexas.edu/center/benedikt_articles/physics.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Boone, Jason Matthew