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The term “meatspace” refers to the physical world, contrasting with virtual reality or cyberspace. It is used by computer users to differentiate between online and face-to-face situations. Some find “real world” derogatory and prefer “flesh space.” Writers and artists may use it to emphasize their isolated lives.
The term “meatspace” is used in some communities to describe the real, physical world, as opposed to virtual reality or cyberspace. Some computer users refer to doing things “in the flesh space” and the term also appears in science fiction novels, especially those in the cyberpunk genre. The term can be taken and used in different ways, depending on how you view the contrast between virtual reality and the physical world.
Obviously, the “meat” in “meatspace” is a reference to real physical bodies. For people who spend a lot of time in cyberspace, often developing rich and complex relationships, the main difference between people in the real world and people in cyberspace is that people in the real world also have physical bodies, with their own advantages and limitations. While the view of physical bodies as flesh is perhaps a bit crude, it is a very apt description in the eyes of some.
Some people find the term “real world” a bit derogatory, belittling the rich and complex culture of life in virtual realities or cyberspace. These individuals often prefer to describe the outside world as flesh space because they view this term as less socially charged; both cyberspace and meatspace are spaces, with prefixes used to describe the nature of each space in easily understood shorthand.
Individuals who spend a lot of time on the computer may also specify that a flesh space situation occurred to differentiate it from a virtual or online situation. In groups where both situations are equally likely, qualifying terms can be very helpful in setting the scene for people hearing about the situation. Terms such as “flesh-space friend” can also be used to emphasize that the friend in question is someone in the physical world, and that both parties have actually met and interacted face-to-face.
Even writers and artists sometimes use the term, even if they don’t spend much time in virtual environments, to emphasize the fact that they often live very isolated lives, rarely interacting with people from the outside world. Some of these individuals make an effort to spend more time in the flesh space, either to seek inspiration or to feel less isolated, while others prefer to limit contact with the outside world so they can focus on their work.
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