Excerpt from Encyclopedia Galactica 2005 Edition
In the first decade of the 21st Century there emerged a new social problem. Cyber Junkies (or CJs as they became known). The rapid growth in VR technology, combined with the ubiquitous info superhighway meant that a large percentage of the world's population had access to cyberspace.
A few individuals found cyberspace incredibly addictive. In its most severe form cyberspace addiction could lead to symptoms similar to those produced by hard drug use: an inability to deal with normal human society and interpersonal relationships (although most had good social interactions in VR), flat emotional responses in RL, unemployment and malnutrition.
A common diagnostic test for CJs included a loss of focusing abilities in the eyes and many sufferers expressed a desire not to ever leave cyberspace. At this stage there is no known cure for the CJs condition and the prevalence of the disease is increasing.
A decade or so on how'd I go?
Well, the Encyclopedia Galactica is wikipedia.org. Often the first keyword hit on the search engine and the practically authoritative source.
The addiction is actually for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. There's a term "Widows of Warcraft" that's apt.
VR goggles still haven't really caught on.
The Internet is pretty ubiquitous. Its good to be able to pay your bills online and retrieve info on a mobile phone!
Although there's a huge chunk of the world's population who don't have such luxuries.
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