Snow Crash Ahead? An anthropological case study of the impacts of modern technologies and fully digital realities on “the self”

Abstract

This work highlights the concept of the “self” in a fully digital context, aiming to elucidate the impact of modern technologies on the “self” in fully digital augmented realities. The thesis is based on a combination of theoretical, archival, and digital ethnographic research, including participant observation within the Horizon Worlds virtual reality platform. The earlier portions, chapters one through five, will lay the theoretical frameworks for understanding digital ‘selves,’ specifically emphasizing how decisions are made in digital realities and how businesses can use data to influence an individual’s decisions. Ethnographic and auto-ethnographic research will inform the latter portions of the project, chapters six through eight. Ethnographic data will be reviewed alongside non-virtual reality analogs such as World of Warcraft and Second Life to help highlight the role of the self in altered digital realities. This work attempts to highlight the key players in the space, the tools used to create digital landscapes, and the economic engine that brings about the creation of new realities to understand what the impacts are to the “self” in a fully digitally reconstructed reality. This project illuminates the ongoing war of data, juxtaposing personal liberty, profits, and social change. Through the analysis of the evolution of augmented digital technologies and their social ramifications, this research will highlight the impact of the evolution of digital technologies on the human experience.