The Problem of the Relationship between Virtuality and Reality and their Impact on Intercultural Communication
The article presents an analysis of the concept of “virtual reality”, shows the connection of this concept with the concept of reality, and provides an overview of their historical complex. The idea of virtuality and its relation to reality was developed in ancient, oriental, scholastic philosophy and has become widespread in the last few decades. Virtual reality is viewed as a representative technology in which the conditions, circumstances and context of the production of reality can be relatively obvious. However, in comparison with “traditional” sociocultural systems, its construction is simplified. We also revealed the influence of the virtualization of today’s society on the processes taking place in the framework of intercultural communication. Virtual communities are replacing traditional ones and transforming existing cultural identities. Individuals become technological, homogenized entities that do not function in time or space. The relevance of the article is due to the need to identify the differences between virtual reality and reality. During the analysis, we revealed that virtual reality in different conditions could be an integral part, type, aspect of virtual reality. Its characteristics are indistinguishable, superimposed on each other, which affects the cultural identity of the individual and, as a result, on intercultural communication.