Introduction

This book is an exploration of the digital revolution, of how the virtual world is transforming our psychology, changing how we relate to one another and how we think about the world. Digital technology radically subverts our sense of space and time, thrusting us into the unchartered territories of the virtual world. We claim that the virtual world is but the latest instantiation of what we call human virtuality, which has been a central issue for both psychoanalysis and philosophy. We use insights from both disciplines to help us navigate our investigation. The current discourse on technology typically polarizes into positive and negative positions that ultimately obstruct understanding. Our central claim is that because technology is a pharmakon, both a remedy and a poison, it demands that we avoid this polarization. We exercise, therefore, what we call a pharmacological method that instead strives to hold their tension. Rather than expecting resolutions to the issues that are raised by the virtual world, we seek a clearer view of the deep complexities to which they alert us in what is fast becoming our digital lives.