Introduction
In the era of augmented reality (AR) and artificial general intelligence (AGI), the boundary between the real and the generated is rapidly blurring. Modern virtuality is not just a technology, but primarily a challenge to our phenomenology—the way we experience the world. This article analyzes how digital images impact our bodies, social trust, and identity. You will learn why we need a new "hygiene of modes" and how technical standards can protect the status of truth in a world dominated by deepfakes.
Leib, Milgram’s Continuum, and the Clinical Picture of Hypervirtuality
At the foundation of human experience lies the Leib—the living, sensing, and mortal body. It differs fundamentally from an avatar, which is merely a product from a digital catalog. While the body makes the world real through the senses, the avatar serves as a prosthesis for the imagination. Milgram and Kishino’s Continuum categorizes these technologies, showing a fluid transition from pure perception of the real world, through mixed reality (MR), to total virtuality.
However, the phenomenon of hypervirtuality carries clinical risks. In the ICD-11 classification, the WHO identifies gaming disorder, characterized by a loss of control and the prioritization of the digital world over the physical one. The key mechanism here is the "occupation of the field of consciousness," where virtual goals become more important than real needs. Therapy requires a re-education of perceptual modes and a return to embodied activities rooted in the physical "here and now."
Deepfakes, the C2PA Standard, and Phenomenological Hygiene
The development of deepfake technology has led to an inflation of social trust. When "everything can be fabricated," our default perceptual certainty erodes. The technological response is the C2PA standard—a system of cryptographic signatures that allows for the verification of the origin and edit history of digital materials. It is a digital "vaccine," restoring an ontological anchor for our senses.
Technology alone, however, is not enough. The author proposes the introduction of phenomenological hygiene within a "School of Distinctions." Its goal is to train the recognition of one's own internal states: whether we are currently in the mode of perception, image, or fantasy. Simultaneously, we must fight for perception zones—public spaces free from digital AR smog. We have a right to "visual silence," protecting us from behavioral overlays and advertisements woven into the landscape.
AGI, the Paradox of Transcendence, and Man as Fluid Code
Can AGI become an authentic "Other" in the ethical sense? Phenomenology suggests not. The machine possesses neither natural intentionality nor a body that can feel pain. Its declarations are simulations, not experiences. However, virtuality redefines our myths and the sacred, offering technological transcendence. VR allows one to leave the body within the interface, resembling a religious promise of immortality, yet it is a "light sacred," devoid of the weight of real suffering.
In this new ontology, man becomes fluid code—a process rather than a fixed substance. Identity becomes configurable, raising the question: who manages this code? New metrics, such as the Inversion Ratio (IR), which measures the ratio of valuing irreality over reality, serve to monitor health in this world. Interestingly, the approach to AR filters varies culturally: in Asia, they are a form of politeness; in Scandinavia, a manifestation of the fear of authenticity.
Summary
We stand at the threshold of the era of the "plastic human," where the boundary between biology and algorithm is becoming transparent. The key to survival is not escaping technology, but the conscious harmonization of all incarnations—from the physical body to digital footprints. We must implement "axiological algorithms" based on truth and goodness, so that our identity does not become merely a subscription product. The true transcendence of the future is not the abandonment of the body, but the art of maintaining authenticity in a world of constant simulation.
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