This article is based to a large extent on the Soziologische Revue (1999), which was kindly provided (among other materials) by the Berlin Center for Information on Social Sciences (1). The editors ' interest in these materials is due to the fact that Russia is actively developing the world presented to people by global information networks and personal computers. The societal aspects of building up information structures can be summed up by the observation that the computer has changed our lives and literally become ubiquitous. The impact of the "virtual world" on society is revealed in the literature, which is rapidly growing at the intersection of works on electronic technology, methods and areas of its use, the computer as a means of mass communication, and the train of social consequences of their increasingly widespread introduction.

Modern social studies grew up in a bookish environment. It takes effort to enter the world of networks and computers with their new, hard-to-imagine forms of expression and self-expression. However, the "network culture" attracts a wide range of sociologists. Russia is probably crossing a new milestone in the development of the computer world: the spread of powerful computers is beginning to have a qualitative impact. Instead of mastering the technique of using and using machines, connecting to networks, accumulating a mass of users and a mass of information, etc., there is a stage when the main thing will be to optimize the use of opportunities presented by computers and information networks, entering cyberspace, the virtual world created by them, and mastering them.

A qualitatively new aspect of informatization made it possible to obtain virtual, that is, almost indistinguishable from (as close as possible to) real (s) object data. A multimedia computer provides the user with an image, graphic and written information, sound, color, volume (2). The technique of multiple "windows" - like Matryoshka dolls-allows you to represent the multi-dimensionality of an object on the screen. The user can create a "virtual" image of the most complex objects on the computer screen, in a form that perfectly reproduces reality. Computers create their own virtual worlds. Computer hyper-or cyberspace is accessible through user surfaces (interfaces), glowing monitors. The ability to travel in the virtual ocean primarily depends on the design, optimization, and even "research" qualities of the interfaces.

Computers, being machines, are not analogs of previous generations of machines. Here is a new universal-abstract symbolic machine that operates with values, representations, and signs, and itself consists of signs and symbols. The system of machines creates its own technique and the prospect of forming a new society through knowledge and science.

Virtualization of the computer world has created a fundamentally new situation in the production, reproduction and use of "information", data, facts, etc.in all spheres of public life. Among the already implemented applications of "virtual space" will attract the sociologist's attention: military science and cosmonautics; architecture, mechanical engineering, medicine; research, training,

page 16

teaching (distance learning); entertainment and free time; transport; art; virtual business and production organization; consumption, distribution, finance; state and democracy; etc. A generation of people is being formed whose first means of obtaining information (and education) is computer games, the Internet, as an interaction with other users, a source of information and communication. data.

Computers and communication networks have become part of the Russian business community and economy: financial transactions and commercial transactions are concluded through networks. Offices of firms are becoming electronic (H). The computer is a reality of the labor market. Columns of job ads will convince you that owning this communication tool is a prerequisite for getting a decent job. Programmers and computer operators are one of the few categories of employees who do not know the problem of employment. Institutions that work with large-scale information make extensive use of databases and specialized systems for storing, using, and transmitting information. There were problems of computer crime and computer law, etc.

What does the intrusion of computers, networks, and the virtual world into society mean for sociological research? The first question that arises in this connection is: from what initial positions should we approach the ongoing interaction of the virtual world with the world of sociological science in the field of sociological knowledge? Such options are logical.

- A systematic approach, according to which the individual components of public space together are society, and virtual communication through network systems makes the connection of society come true. However, as the experience of applying this approach to social reality shows, it does not so much answer the questions of sociologists as it creates problems for them.

- Computer, networks, etc. - a certain type, method of production; information technologies radically change the spheres of production and consumption. The historical-materialist approach sees the computerization of production as a continuation of the revolution in the productive forces. The global system of networked computers, which has incredible economic and military power, is conceived as a stage in the development of the dominant economic system. Cyberspace is the third great form of global expansion of capitalism, writes Achim Buhl (4, p. 356). The sociological understanding of the computer world distinguishes in socio-economic processes the path from technology (tools, "productive forces") to culture (to scientific and aesthetic knowledge) - and vice versa - as a path passing through a complex of communication tools.

- Close to the topic of sociology of culture. The virtual world is a civilizational achievement, a means of transmitting information. This is a revolution in the ways of mastering cultural values, transferring them between people and generations, comparable in revolutionary nature to the appearance of writing or printing (5). Learning is no longer associated only with writing. The emergence of generations that are computer-savvy but don't have the habit of reading books or printed texts may be part of humanity's entry into a new era. The flexibility and efficiency of electronic interfaces have long since left behind (or absorbed) all other methods (even if they, like librarianship, have evolved over the centuries) of presenting, selecting, and searching information. Looking back, we can say about the current level of development of communication tools in Johnson's words that the entire culture of communication tools in a certain sense was and is an interface culture (6). But earlier, the awareness and realization of information explosions lasted for centuries. How will it be this time?

One can imagine the study of the virtual world, the world of networked computers, as a subculture or marginal phenomenon. In applied cultural terms, films and TV films with computer graphics (7) and special effects (compression of space, for example) give a new quality to the technical and visual capabilities of this phenomenon, including its impact on people.

page 17

However, from the point of view of historical sociology, the computer aspect of the cultural and technological revolution is not sufficiently developed to change social structures sufficiently thoroughly and make the revolutionary nature of the phenomenon sociologically obvious.

- It is possible to present the problems under consideration within the framework of the sociology of science. The personal computer and everything connected with it is an objectified and at the same time subjectified intermediary between the subject and the object of research. In this connection, a number of problems of cognition, knowledge and science arise.

The computer in the context of meta-sociology

Foreign sociologists include the emergence and development of the computer world in the analysis of the problems of transition from modernity to postmodernity - the information society, the society of science, the "multi-option" society, etc. It is expected that the coming new social formation will be clearly, essentially different from the modern industrial society. Many areas are touched upon - from technology to art [8, 9]. In a generalized form, the sociological model of the development of "virtuality" technology is built from a calculator (4, p. 90) through multimedia tools, network connections to virtual reality technologies, neuroinformatics and artificial brains. "The calculator is historically closely connected with modernity. But it is fraught with potentials that go beyond the classical structures of industrial society " [4, p. 128]. All this is the material of sociological discourse in (and about) the new millennium. One of the important characteristics of computerization in this regard is the combination of globalization with fragmentation and fragmentation of society in the postmodern era [10].

Computerization and the emergence of virtual space have become an important aspect of the debate in economic sociology. The problems of ownership, appropriation, and the theory of late capitalism are discussed. Some scientists speak of qualitatively new mechanisms of socialization in all subsystems of society (4 p.360), which characterize modern capitalism as a departure from the classical private method of appropriation.

There are opposite approaches. In direct controversy with their neighbors from the United States, Canadian leftists Crocker and Weinstein criticize the political economy of virtual reality as an integral part of the theory of late capitalism. Their book " Data Dump. Virtual Class Theory " examines the problems of computerization of the world economy. Crocker and Weinstein called the idea of progressivity of postmodernism, "a new pathos of planetary consciousness" according to the formula "one world, Internet, networks, ecology, new ethics, the departure of communism, globalization, multiculturalism" (11, p.78). It is characteristic that when their book was published in Germany, the essence of the English title - "Theory of the Virtual Class" - was removed from the cover (1, p.34). The book speaks sharply negatively about the virtual class that produces garbage, about "the rising politics of liberal fascism and retrofascism", about "the chatty hyper-prophets of information highways-from President Bill Clinton (USA) to President Bill Gates (Microsoft) "(11, p. 11, 21). They call" Pancapitalism ""a primitive form of capitalism, retro-capitalism", a hybrid monster of social Darwinism and technopopulist individualism, virtual fascism (11, p. 29, 91), etc.

Computer, information and mass communication

The sociology of mass media pays great attention to the range of issues under consideration. The reader is provided with information about the concept of information, the history of information processing in technical and human systems. In particular, the problem of "information processing in human systems" affects the possibility of considering the human brain as a model of a"machine information processing system". A metaphor:

page 18

computer / brain (12, p. 115) Kh. - Yu. Krismanski considers technical belittling of human thinking, and "computer modeling of psychological theories" [12, p. 119] - a path to an impoverished, anti-cultural architecture of virtual space [1, p.35-36].

Two ways to overcome the narrowness of the approach to information processing are discussed. The first is the theory of language, in particular, Whorf's theory, which considers language (as well as computers) both as a carrier of information and as a means of symbolic representation of reality [12, p. 120]. The second is connected with the fundamental conclusion of sociology that technology is only a means, a product of human creativity (and therefore fundamentally inferior to it) and at the same time an opportunity for people to objectify and express themselves. Society and culture are forced again and again to catch up with new technology, especially new communication technologies, to "colonize", to master technology with the help of culture. A negative variant of the colonization of society by technology is "computer-integrated warfare" [12, p. 205 et seq.].

Understanding, in particular, in German science of the virtual world is not easy. Thus, X. Winkler defends the thesis that networked calculators are a global infrastructure, "a set of machine-readable documents, programs and projects", which "following technically, socially and institutionally its own rules and its own media patterns", in essence, remains a world of writing and texts only (12, p. 9 et seq.). This is a clear narrowing of the view, notes Kh. - Yu. Krismansky. He also highlights Winkler's bewilderment as to why "such a radical innovation, such a fundamental transformation of the communication landscape is taking place at all," what it is caused by, and why " millions of individuals are spending money, time, and vital energy to gain access to a new universe." Instead of the obvious answer-the development of productive forces-his methodology is based on the thesis that, in essence, we are talking about desires, and not about real facts, about the "empire of dreams" (12, p.331). This methodology is a consequence of the fact that Winkler's attempt to link the global division of labor with communication needs had unpleasant consequences: the author was pointed out that the Marxist heritage was unacceptable [12, p. 376]. A typical German way of disciplining scientific growth [1, p. 37], notes Kh. - Yu. Krismansky, we add: reminiscent of the times of Suslov.

Mass media or means of communication?

When analyzing virtuality using the methods of communication science or journalism [14, 15], some authors separate the sphere of competence of journalists and the socio-scientific understanding of the media from WWW. Others distinguish between first - order media ("without archive and organization" - telephone and telefax) and second-order media (mass communication media), equating the Internet (16) with the telephone network.

Scientists - users of WWW know that behind browsers, Microsoft, bands, channels, providers, etc. is the fact of mass access to information and knowledge. The telephone network is incomparable to the complex functional intermediary structure of the world of websites, home pages, and other forms of interfaces. Rather, we are talking about the arrival of a new technique for everyday creativity and communication. In this regard, the publisher of the online magazine "Feed" S. Johnson, describing the development of interfaces, believes that the "World Wide Web" will grow to the status of "culture", there will be an interpenetration of all mass media of communication.

Empirical studies confirm the dynamics of computer use in the media. Although commerce and interpersonal communication are still at the forefront, database differentiation and specialization are developing. In 1996, the editorial offices of" ordinary " mass media widely used online technologies for research purposes [14, p. 15], which were aimed at online sources of political information. However, the media

page 19

the funds of scientific knowledge, even political science, that are represented in the networks are practically not used thoroughly (14, p. 20 et seq.). Media editors ranked sources of information on the topic "Higher education / research institutions" in the penultimate place in the survey [14, p. 182].

The presence of a community of scientists has grown significantly on the Internet, writes Kh.-Yu. Krismansky, giving the email address of a powerful accessible social science data bank: Website Wissenschaft plus Politik-http: / / staff-www.uni-marburg.de/ril-lingr/home.html. This most qualified segment of the network does not yet have a mass of competent users. The main commercial sponsors of online funds (contrary to assurances to the contrary) are not interested in mass free development of scientific knowledge. The virtuality technique (sufficient transmission power, bandwidth, and data processing speed), the physical base of networks, and the dangerous turn in their payment in Europe (especially by German network owners), in contrast to the United States, according to some authors (12, p. 256 et seq.), create serious obstacles for mass Internet users. In this regard, criticizing (15, p. 74 et seq.) the statist-centralist-monopolist telecommunications policy in Europe, raises the question of the need to publicly discuss real network costs, the gap in the capacity of banks, lotteries and science networks, the lack of interest of cable network owners in cheap interactive network infrastructure, etc., and the development of a strategy in the field of virtuality. This problem is also important for Russia. The cost of using networks directly affects the mass computerization, minimizing the number of"digital homeless people". An elitist approach is not acceptable here for many reasons, the main one of which we have put in the title of the next section:

New facets of change (conflict?) generations

Socialization theory is one of the starting points for analyzing the social problems of the virtual world. The progress of technology has begun to shape generations of intellectuals who dominate the press and the struggle for power. A number of authors describe an autobiographical aspect of intellectual discourse in Europe at the intersection of modernity and postmodernity: the transition of the generation of 68 and 89 from the search for truth to the rejection of the possibility of truth-with the huge role of television. The movement of '68 can be described as a TV movement; its slogans of eliminating "the authority of parents, politicians, professors, and institutions" are the result of the influence of mass media on society: "Through the TV screen on the stage of society, the boundary between the representative foreground and the private background was systematically blurred. Information hierarchies have changed places: today's leading figures must be aware of the total surveillance by the media, while in the pre-electronic age they could still systematically protect access to their personalities" (17, p.30). Television gave this generation "a worldwide network and a corresponding rate of distribution", a new consciousness of distances, near and far.

But when applied to the 89th generation, the situation is so different that sociologists draw public attention to it. Their concern is caused by the trend that is being manifested in the media and gaining even more powerful technical capabilities of the computer-manipulation of the consciousness and behavior of citizens. In the German media over the past decade, many magicians have appeared who speak the language of an educated person to the public what they want to hear. The rejection of the critical position of the Frankfurt School works for the current accounts of Deutsche Bank bosses, and TV shows "shamelessly exploit" this approach (17, p. 78 et seq.). Generations who have grown up in the environment of new means of communication may lose consciousness of the contradiction between the virtual world and reality (17, p. 78). To think about "saving real reality," one author believes, it should only be " reduced to the position of one of the possible realities among many-as is done with the "choose" button.

page 20

real life" in the menu of virtual realities " (17, p. 88). Such a generation, Krismansky notes, will allow you to do anything with yourself (1, p.38).

Turning virtuality into an important value is a fact for the generation that has grown up with the development of chips in the last 15 years, with corresponding games, movies, novels, and especially computer magazines, and active demands on networks. Sociologically interesting are no longer the generations of 68 and 89, but the generation of 486 and the cohorts of Pentium students, current students. The "486s" know from experience that their professional life prospects are linked to this new phenomenon. Crocker and Weinstein-writers and rock musicians - have captured the cultural anti-mood of our era: to abandon the role of "flesh discarded by the virtual class", not to allow the virtual class to monopolize "digital" reality. They hope for "computer-based" adolescents adapted to the" hypertexts " of virtuality, to the future cybernetic world of multimedia politics, economics, personalities and relationships (11, p.33).

In the book" Virtual Society " A. Buhl develops the provisions of the theory of virtual society. Entering the world of network metaphors (data highway, global village, virtual community, etc.), he builds a sociological model of a virtual society based on St. Lem's fiction. Phantom culture (popular science literature, films) reveals a generational gap: "The authors discussed are transitional figures from science fiction to the study of the future," writes Buhl. - Their literary works are scientific thought experiments that understand the future as a sphere of purposeful intervention " (4, p. 163).

The concept of a "virtual society" needs to be thought through. The idea that "parallel worlds" are formed in all spheres of society, and the dialectic of "real world" and "Looking glass"," real space "and" virtual space "leads, according to A. Buhl, to" qualitatively new mechanisms of socialization in all subsystems of society " (4, p. 360), requires addressing to fundamental theoretical problems. A qualitative change in the historical process as a result of combining the utopias of science fiction writers with electronics will bring state departments of education, science and technology to the forefront: "the computer enhances not only the mechanical and intellectual powers of a person. It seems that the power of imagination, imagination and feelings also become subject to strengthening and change "(4, p. 360).

Through the Looking Glass of Interfaces and sociology

Some authors write about "interfaceless systems" where nothing stands between users and their tasks. Human-computer interaction with this approach is associated with setting tasks, with a common understanding and explanation. (Cited in: 12, p. 142). Others strongly object to decisions that prefer the relational, mediating nature of knowledge and information to essential thinking. In practice, this would mean the triumph of packaging magicians in electoral battles, or the imaginary interactivity already offered by channels like CNN or MTU. Mastering the abundance of knowledge and information is always a matter of"indoctrinating the user".

In this regard, S. Johnson notes two trends in the generations of "computer boys". Some are tech geeks: for them, software is part of a technical system, and they, already adults, equate programs with machines and networks. Fans of culture associate technology with cultural socialization. Similarly technically prepared, they approach software development as a cultural phenomenon in adulthood; just as Johnson himself, a semiotic and English literature expert, puts "this strange new interface design environment" in a broad historical context. For him, surface graphics as a means of communication are "as complex and vivid as a novel, a cathedral, or a movie"; Johnson writes: "We will come to think of interface design as an art form-maybe an art form for the next century" (6, p. 212-213).

page 21

Arrangements of windows and common areas, according to Johnson, finally parting with the fundamental premise of modernity, will make possible the cultural development of the experience of non-Euclidean spaces.

Interfaces, initially only the individual surface of the user, in the practice of urban sociologists create virtual social worlds, "city centers", "market squares", landscapes, complex, multidimensional topological spaces. If earlier standards (Apple, Windows) dominated the design of interfaces, more advanced programs made them almost unlimited in variety. The simplest imitations (workplace, office, etc.) were replaced by "more flexible, freely connecting metaphors" (6, p. 232). Interfaces overcome the fragmentary knowledge of the world as it appears to us through the modem and the monitor screen, correct the forces brought to life by the information age (6, p. 236 et seq.). Interface culture, like all previous cultures, represents and interprets the confusing, diverse "infinite" reality and gradually, as virtualization progresses, it occupies a central position in intellectual activity. "The interface came into the world under the guise of efficiency and is now beginning to act - like a butterfly cocoon - as a form of authentic art "(6, p. 242).

The real loss of reality and the problem of truth

In the problem of interfaces as an intermediary in the processes of cognition, the fundamental problem is the reality of being and cognition of reality, and not its virtual pair. The deception that flourishes in the electronic media, according to Kh.-Yu. Krismansky (1, p. 38), a special case of what the author of the book "Virtualization of the social" M. Petau writes about: "The name' virtual reality 'contributes to the erroneous opinion that, despite everything, there is still a real reality; it can be comprehended by the natural equipment of a person, while for a long time it has been said that this natural equipment is only one case out of many" (10, p.119). That is ,the "actual reality" and the social reality that is indisputable for sociologists are different.

Scientists think about the historical development of virtuality, the emergence of a new dimension of socio-economic reality. Computer and communication networks entail consequences for the subjects of theorizing. For example, when managing the system of a modern global multinational economy, an individual does not have an adequate apparatus for perception, cognition, and interiorization of hyperspaces. An analog of the current situation in cognition is the crisis of Euclidean geometry. "The newest transformation is spatial? in computer hyperspace, it allowed us to surpass the ability of our body to localize itself and structure its immediate environment, to cognitively determine its position in the measurable external world by perception and cognition" (4, p.355). Hyperspace is a historical socio-economic reality.

"Secured" knowledge in such conditions is achievable only by entering the humanities and social sciences in the age of cultural-technical and cognitive-technical inventions and discoveries. In order for people to take this path with readiness and activity, F. Jameson offers a program of cognitive mapping: the creation of maps, a century of topological efforts and, as a result, the civilized settlement of hyperspaces, which, despite the vastness, are a historical product created by man. Cognitive mapping is a concept of the sociology of cognition, which dialectically considers the situation in cognition both as a social catastrophe and as progress (4, p. 356).

So what is truth in a virtualized environment? A system of networked computers, if desired, virtually connects everything to everything. In potency, it contains the possibility of symbolization and cognitive mapping of all the world's resources.

page 22

public relations in "real time" - the fulfillment of the utopia of encyclopedists, the approximation of the possibility of sociological analysis of the past, present and future almost simultaneously. "Today, it is the instantaneous speed of electronic information that makes it possible for the first time to easily recognize the types and formal contours of change and development. The whole world, past and present, now appears to us as the growth of a plant in an unprecedented accelerated movie. The speed of electricity is synonymous with both light and understanding of causes " (6, p. 4). For the sociology of knowledge and science, this is a "futuroschok". Neither representatives of the school of information society, nor leading theorists of scientific society, writes Buhl, timely did not take into account this fundamental paradigm shift in computer technology, "which turned the electronic counting machine into a multi-purpose manufacturer of the worlds of the Looking Glass" (4, p. 67).

In this context, for the sociology of science and cognition, it is of paramount importance to clearly understand the differences between reality and virtual knowledge of the reality represented by interfaces. The very unlimited possibility of accumulating and transmitting data in any field of knowledge should not hide from the scientist (or candidate for scientists) the problem of the adequacy of virtual information to real reality, the knowledge of which is the essence of science. The abundance of pre-scientific and pseudoscientific knowledge is a fact of modern Russian reality. Warning about the possibility of multiple multiplication of this phenomenon by means of electronic technical means (no matter how much they may seem superior to the individual's capabilities) in these conditions is timely and necessary. There is no virtual truth. Or does it exist?

list of literature

1. Krysmanski H.-J. Virtuelle Welt, Computer und Gesellschaft // Soziologische Revue (Bamberg). 1999. Heft 1. Ss. 31-45; U. Wenzel. Von der Intransparenz der Medien // Ibidem. Ss. 46-56.

2. Kretschman DL., Pushkov A. I. Multimedia with your own hands: Seven steps into the world of multimedia. SPb.: BHV-Saint Petersburg, 1999.

3. E-office. Tt. 1-2. M? Nolidzh. 1999.

4. Buhl A. Die virtuelle Gesellschaft. Okonomie, Politik und Kultur im Zeichen des Cyberspace. Opiaden, 1997.

5. Bolter J.D. Writing Space. The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. L., 1991; Febvre L., H.D. Martin. The Coming of the Book. The Impact of Printing 1450-1800. L. NY. 1990.

6. Johnson S. Interface Culture. How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate. San Francisco, 1997.

7. Shikin E. V., Boreskov A.V. Computer graphics: dynamics, realistic images. Moscow: Dialog-MEPhI. 1998.

8. Huyssen A. Hrsg. Postmodeme. Zeichen eines kulturellen Wandels. Hamburg. 1993. S. 45-102.

9. Jameson F. The Geopolitical Aesthetic. Cinema and Space in the World System. L., 1992.

10. Becker V., Paethau M. Hrsg. Virtualisierung des Sozialen. Die Inrormanonsgesellschaft zwischen Fragmentierung und Globalisierung. Fr. a.M. - NY, 1997.

11. KrokerA.. Weinstein M. Datemull. Die Theorie der virtuellen Klasse. Wien, 1997.

12. Fleissner P., Hofkirchner W., Mutter H., Pohl М., Stary C. Der Mensh lebt nicht vom bit allein... Information in Technilk und Gesellschaft. Bern, Fr.a.M., 1997.

13. Winkler H. Docuverse. Zur Medientheorie der Computer. Miinchen, 1997.

14. Hagen L.M. (Hrsg.). Online-Medien als Quellen politischer Information. Empirische Untersuchungen zur Nutznung von Internet und Online-Diensten. Opiaden, 1998.

15. Neveria I. (Hrsg.). Das Netz-Medium. Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Aspekte eines Mediums in Entwicklung. Opiaden, 1998.

16. Semenov Yu. A. Internet networks: Architecture and Protocols, Moscow: <url>, 1998.

17. HorischJ. Hrsg. Mediengenerationen. Fr.a.M. 1997.

page 23

Permanent link to this publication: