ࡱ> $&#G b bjbjَ b ] $r Qf04 Multistability in Cyberspace The diverse technologies of communication and information have stimulated much speculation concerning virtuality, the spatiality of cyberspace, and the role of phenomena such as avatars. Beginning with a phenomenology of multistability in the way various technological media are perceived, I shall examine the roles of human embodiment, perception, and spatial transformations within communication and information media. My analysis will have two dimensions, the one descriptive, in which I shall attempt an outline of the possibility structure of such media, and the other side, critical, in which I shall attempt deconstructions of much hype which accompanies discussions of these technologies. Screen Space: Although screen space is perhaps the simplest, concrete situation for users of communication and information technologies, it already presents a multistable phenomenon. Screen space can be perceived as as urface, as a depth, as a special virtual space, each variant of which presents a different set of possible experiences. By drawing from a phenomenology of multistability and some earlier examples in technological history, I shall show how thse possibility structures impact upon some of the present fantasies surrounding virtuality and cyberspace. Examples will include internet, video game, and other popular technologies. Non-neutrality: Drawing from earlier work on the magnification-reduction or selectivity structures of communication and information technologies, I shall analyse the masking and fantasy possibilities of media technologies. Of particular interest in this context is the shaping of what I call list serve wars which are conducted through various social contexts. Virtual/real Alternations: Contemporary academic and other communication has also enabled the emergence of virtual/real travel and community possibilities. Of particular interest in this context is the role of multi-or pluricultural contact which, at its extremes, is evidenced by severe ethnic conflict and on the other the promotion of a cyber-cosmopolitanism. The overall focus will be upon the transformations of experience through the mediation of the technologies involved. Don Ihde, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY 11794-3750 USA Email: dihde@notes.cc.sunysb.edu  !u  b CJ6CJCJ5CJ  !t u T U > b  !t u T U > b / =!"#$% [(@(NormalCJmH 4`4 Heading 1$@&5CJ<A@<Default Paragraph Fontb b b b bp H a d >F4 = > d Preferred Customer2C:\windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Document1.asdPreferred Customer0C:\My Documents\Multistability in Cyberspace.docPreferred Customer@C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\My Briefcase\Multistability in Cyberspace.doc@a a vua gb `@GTimes New Roman5Symbol3& Arial"phvavaua[!20 Preferred CustomerPreferred Customer Oh+'0|  , 8 D P\dltssPreferred CustomerrefNormalePreferred Customer2efMicrosoft Word 8.0@@n/@X/@X/[ ՜.+,D՜.+,D hp  Dell Computer CorporationD j  Title 6> _PID_GUIDAN{5C3FFA62-0BF8-11D6-8049-00C04F48DA1D}  !"%Root Entry FJ0Qf0'1Table WordDocumentSummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjjA,@  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q