2024年6月1日发(作者：危月朗)

A Virtual Life

Maia Szalavitz, formerly a television producer， now spends her time as a

writer. In this essay she explores digital reality and its consequences。 Along the

way， she compares the digital world to the ”real" world, acknowledging the

attractions of the electronic dimension.

迈亚·塞拉维茨曾是电视制片人，目前从事写作.她在本文中探索了数字化世界及其后

果.与此同时，她将数字化世界与真实世界做了比较，承认电子空间自有其魅力。

Maia Szalavitz

1 After too long on the Net， even a phone call can be a shock. My

boyfriend’s Liverpool accent suddenly becomes impossible to interpret after his

easily understood words on screen； a secretary’s clipped tone seems more

rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid —— hours

become minutes, or seconds stretch into days。 Weekends， once a highlight of

my week， are now just two ordinary days.

虚拟世界的生活

迈亚·塞拉维茨

在网上呆了太久，听到电话铃声也会吓一大跳.显示屏上看多了我男朋友那些一目了

然的文字，他的利物浦口音一下子变得难以听懂；而秘书的清脆快速的语调听上去比我想

象的要生硬。时间本身变得捉摸不定-—几小时变成几分钟,或几秒钟延伸为几天。周末原

本是我一周的黄金时段,现在却不过是平平常常的两天.

2 For the last three years， since I stopped working as a television producer,

I have done much of my work as a telecommuter。 I submit articles and edit them

via email and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend

lives in England， so much of our relationship is also computer-assisted.

在我不再当电视制片人的这三年间，我的大部分工作都是在家里使用计算机终端进

行的.我通过电子邮件投稿和校订，利用互联网上的人名地址与同行交流。我男朋友住在英

国,因此两人的关系也在很大程度上借助于电脑维系。

3 If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything。 I can

order food， and manage my money, love and work。 In fact， at times I have spent

as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy

newspapers and groceries。 I watched most of the endless snowstorm of ’96 on

TV.

我要是愿意的话，可以一连几个星期不出门而什么也不缺.我可以在网上订购食品、

网上理财、网上恋爱、网上工作。事实上我有时独自呆在家里长达三个星期，只偶尔出去

拿信、买报纸及日用品。1996年那一场接一场的暴风雪我大都是在电视上看到的。

4 But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal。 I start to feel as though

I've become one with my machines， taking data in， spitting them back out， just

another link in the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to feel

2024年6月1日发(作者：危月朗)

A Virtual Life

Maia Szalavitz, formerly a television producer， now spends her time as a

writer. In this essay she explores digital reality and its consequences。 Along the

way， she compares the digital world to the ”real" world, acknowledging the

attractions of the electronic dimension.

迈亚·塞拉维茨曾是电视制片人，目前从事写作.她在本文中探索了数字化世界及其后

果.与此同时，她将数字化世界与真实世界做了比较，承认电子空间自有其魅力。

Maia Szalavitz

1 After too long on the Net， even a phone call can be a shock. My

boyfriend’s Liverpool accent suddenly becomes impossible to interpret after his

easily understood words on screen； a secretary’s clipped tone seems more

rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid —— hours

become minutes, or seconds stretch into days。 Weekends， once a highlight of

my week， are now just two ordinary days.

虚拟世界的生活

迈亚·塞拉维茨

在网上呆了太久，听到电话铃声也会吓一大跳.显示屏上看多了我男朋友那些一目了

然的文字，他的利物浦口音一下子变得难以听懂；而秘书的清脆快速的语调听上去比我想

象的要生硬。时间本身变得捉摸不定-—几小时变成几分钟,或几秒钟延伸为几天。周末原

本是我一周的黄金时段,现在却不过是平平常常的两天.

2 For the last three years， since I stopped working as a television producer,

I have done much of my work as a telecommuter。 I submit articles and edit them

via email and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend

lives in England， so much of our relationship is also computer-assisted.

在我不再当电视制片人的这三年间，我的大部分工作都是在家里使用计算机终端进

行的.我通过电子邮件投稿和校订，利用互联网上的人名地址与同行交流。我男朋友住在英

国,因此两人的关系也在很大程度上借助于电脑维系。

3 If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything。 I can

order food， and manage my money, love and work。 In fact， at times I have spent

as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy

newspapers and groceries。 I watched most of the endless snowstorm of ’96 on

TV.

我要是愿意的话，可以一连几个星期不出门而什么也不缺.我可以在网上订购食品、

网上理财、网上恋爱、网上工作。事实上我有时独自呆在家里长达三个星期，只偶尔出去

拿信、买报纸及日用品。1996年那一场接一场的暴风雪我大都是在电视上看到的。

4 But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal。 I start to feel as though

I've become one with my machines， taking data in， spitting them back out， just

another link in the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to feel