Virtual Sociocultural Convergence

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This book delves into the sociocultural convergence in multiplayer online games and virtual worlds, merging computer science, social science, and the humanities. The rise of online media offers new avenues for collecting social science data and provides contexts for developing theories and conducting education in both the arts and technology. Role-playing games and virtual environments illustrate classical concepts of human behavior, fostering innovative thinking. The insights stem from a series of international conferences focused on science and technology convergence over fifteen years. The methodology involves sending avatars, representing classical social theorists or schools of thought, into game worlds that either align with or challenge their core ideas, including technological determinism, urban sociology, group dynamics, freedom versus control, class stratification, linguistic variation, functional equivalence across cultures, behavioral psychology, civilization collapse, and ethnic pluralism. Researchers and students in social and behavioral sciences will find diverse examples of qualitative and quantitative cultural and societal analysis in various online communities. Additionally, artists and gamers can learn valuable styles and skills applicable to their own creative endeavors.