Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Skylark and the Shuttle

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Virtual Future

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Immersive Environments ((SSIE))

  • 801 Accesses

Abstract

This book has applied the methods of sociology and anthropology, drawing upon concepts from science and technology studies plus futurology, to understand our era’s distinctive new artform: prophetic gameworlds. Virtual worlds depicting possible futures may, in time, teach us to know what has hitherto been unknown, through directly experiencing radical alternative to conventional life. Of course, this is not to say that current virtual worlds are realistic. But as the years pass, and the number and diversity of online role playing games increase, we can use them to prototype the real futures we may create for ourselves. This book describes the first decade of online science fiction gameworlds. What will the tenth decade be like, or the hundredth?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20869

  2. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/pshelley/bl-pshel-sky.htm

  3. Damer, B.: Avatars!: Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet. Peachpit Press, Berkeley (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Stephenson, N.: Snow Crash. Bantam Books, New York (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Childers, R.: A new mars. In: Bainbridge, W.S. (ed.) Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual, pp. 101–109. Springer, London (2010)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Douthat, R.: The end of the space age. New York Times, 11 Feb 2010. http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/the-age-of-space/

  7. Noyes, J.H.: History of American Socialisms. Lippincott, Philadelphia (1870); Noyes, P.: My Father’s House: An Oneida Boyhood. Farrar and Reinhart, New York (1937); Carden, M.L.: Oneida. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore (1969); Foster, L.: Religion and Sexuality. Oxford University Press, New York (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bainbridge, W.S.: Satan’s Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult. University of California Press, Berkeley (1978); Social Construction from Within. In: Richardson, J.T., Best, J., Bromley, D. (eds.) The Satanism Scare, pp. 297–310. Aldine de Gruyter, New York (1991); The colorful dark age. TheBlowUp Magazine 3(Spring/Summer), 50–55 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bainbridge, W.S.: Etopia. Networker 13(1), 35–36 (2009)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Castronova, E.: Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun is Changing Reality. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Bainbridge, W.S., Bainbridge, W.A.: Electronic game research methodologies: studying religious implications. Rev. Religious Res. 49(1), 35–53 (2007)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Stark, R., Bainbridge, W.S.: The Future of Religion. University of California Press, Berkeley (1985); A Theory of Religion. Toronto/Lang, New York (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lévi-Strauss, C.: The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Beacon Press, Boston (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  14. http://www.foxscreenings.com/media/pdf/JamesCameronAVATAR.pdf

  15. Childe, V.G.: Man Makes Himself. New American Library, New York (1951)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Fortune, R.: Sorcerers of Dobu. Routledge, London (1932)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Turnbull, C.M.: The Forest People. Simon and Schuster, New York (1961); Wayward Servants: The Two Worlds of the African Pygmies. Natural History Press, Garden City (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Malinowski, B.: Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Routledge, London (1922)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Henry, J.: Jungle People: A Kaingáng Tribe of the Highlands of Brazil. J. J. Augustin, New York (1941)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Chagnon, N.A.: Ya̦nomamö, The Fierce People. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Wallace, A.F.C.: Dreams and the wishes of the soul. In: Middleton, J. (ed.) Magic, Witchcraft, and Curing, pp. 171–190. Natural History Press, Garden City (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Winnicott, D.W.: Playing and Reality. Basic Books, New York (1971)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia, USA

    William Sims Bainbridge

Authors
  1. William Sims Bainbridge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bainbridge, W.S. (2011). The Skylark and the Shuttle. In: The Virtual Future. Springer Series in Immersive Environments. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-904-8_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-904-8_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-903-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-904-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation