Real vs Virtual

Jim Purbick of Linden Lab has a slide headed 'beware false dichotomies' when comparing Work and Fun. I'm thinking  that I should use the same slogan when people start comparing Real and Virtual. The true opposite of Virtual is not Real but Physical. We are back to the Nicholas Negroponte split between the world of Atoms and the world of Bits. Our experiences in the Virtual World can be just as real as in the Physical World. We work with real money, real people, real relationships, real emotions, real time, real brands, real reputations and real risks in both spaces. And the opposite of Real? Perhaps it's Imagined? Or Fictional? Or Unreal? Or perhaps, devoid of context, it has no opposite - everything is real in some way.

***Imported from old blog***