Feature: In virtual space
Editorial: The world on your screen
If a catastrophe were to occur, she’d flee into the mountains. That’s what Judith Hochstrasser, joint editor-in-chief of Horizons, used to imagine. But today’s catastrophe has her stuck at home instead – albeit with an unexpected way out.
In the virtual realm, landscapes can be designed at will. This potentially opens up endless possibilities. | Image: Alexis Christodoulou
On the occasions I used to contemplate what I’d do in the case of a regional or global catastrophe, I always thought it would involve a radical change of place. I would have to flee into the Alps, I thought, to evade potential assailants, or I’d hide away in our bomb shelter before leaving the contaminated environment of Europe for good. I would never have imagined the places that are now my reality. Instead of bracing myself against the biting wind of high mountain passes, I listen to the clattering voices of online meetings. Instead of leaving my homeland for ever, I’m stuck in the tiny world of my room at home. And even this familiar space has acquired a different purpose: it’s now my home, my office and my fitness centre, all in one.
The pandemic has forced us to redefine certain places, and has almost severed our connection to others. A student, interviewed by Swiss TV, summed it up aptly: “University isn’t a place any more”, she said. “It’s just a feeling”. A survey of more than 7,800 Bachelor and Master students at ETH Zurich merely reinforces what she said. They responded positively to distance learning using computers, but still bitterly missed their university campus. Until recently, going to university signified a sudden expansion of your world. Students would leave their homes in the provinces and come to the big city. At ETH Zurich, for example, the urban panorama is spread out at your feet when you stand on the terrace outside the main building. And you sit in modern amphitheatres, gazing down at your lecturers in front of you. Whatever your success in reaching the airy heights of the intellect, you were at least able to experience an elevated feeling in your physical reality.
Disruptive changes ultimately seem to expand our world – whether it’s a huge catastrophe that alters everything we know, or the simple act of leaving home to begin your university studies. But the current pandemic has seemed to shrink it instead. All the same, this is just a superficial response. In our focus on virtual spaces, we realise that they can in fact help us to discover endless expanses and previously unknown places that harbour unlimited opportunities.
