What is the ‘virtual’ and what types of phenomena can be so described? This article tries to establish the context within which this unclear and ideological term can be constructive. Phrases such as ‘virtual community’ are paradoxical and weak, but ‘virtual’ applied cognitively to simulated phenomena, such as virtual worlds or computer games, has validity and represents an alternative discourse mode to narratives and storytelling in conveying experience and knowledge.
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Espen Aarseth (2001) studied this question.
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