Fakten, Fakten, Fakten – Was ist und wozu brauchen wir Virtualität?

What do we mean by virtualization, virtuality and virtual reality? The author sets out to establish the meaning of virtuality as the realm of the possible, containing many possible instances of the real world, of which reality is just one manifestation. Virtuality, considered as the construction of a parallel, if only imaginary, reality, has manifested itself in the form of works of the imagination, such as plays, poetr y or painting, long before electronic data processing took it beyond the borders of art and into everyday life. The author explores how the concept of a virtual world of possibilites affects the individual’s concept of self as well as of society, and what skills will be necessary in order to prosper in a virtualized society.