Cyberculture, cyborg post-modernism and the sociology of virtual reality technologies : Surfing the soul in the information age

The relation between humans and machines has come to assume a central place within the social sciences, particularly in debates about the role of science and about information technologies. Cyberculture plays a key role in these debates, drawing its inspiration in large part from virtual reality systems. This article examines the affinities between two aspects of cyberculture: cyborg post-modernism, which revolves around the notion that the boundaries between humans and machines are becoming irretrievably blurred, and the cyberpunk movement within youth culture with its futuristic ideas about information and communication machines. While cyberculture may be far ahead of the current state of the technology, it is argued here that its new conception of the relation between politics, technology and art is an important reflection of changes within the cultural industries that surround information and communication technologies within advanced societies.