RECONSTITUTING THE SENSE OF THE REAL: A SCHUTZIAN PERSPECTIVE ON ONLINE GAMING
Lucian Mocrei-Rebrean
International Journal of Social and Educational Innovation April 15, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19594191 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that online gaming constitutes a distinct "finite province of meaning" within a broader social multiverse, and that migrating between the "world of work" and game worlds reshapes players' cognitive style, temporal experience, and sense of reality through shifts in the "tension of consciousness." |
Abstract
AbstractThe ongoing virtualization of daily life represents one of the most significant shifts of the 21st century. The actual boundaries between physical and digital are increasingly negotiated, challenging common conceptions of what is “real”. Using a conceptual framework grounded in Alfred Schutz’s phenomenological sociology, the paper explores the intersubjective experience of online gaming as participation in a very specific "finite province of meaning" within an expanding social multiverse. As millions of individuals chose to regulary migrate from the paramount reality of the "world of work" to the immersive alternative worlds of massive multiplayer games, social life undergoes unpredictable transformations. The study analyzes how the very sense of reality is reconstituted within these digital environments, where sensory immersion and the suspension of everyday physical limitations alter the subject's cognitive style and temporal experience. By contrasting the everyday "world of work", characterized by wade awakeness and vivid pragmatic interest, with the world of play, the research investigates the shifts in the "tension of consciousness" that define virtual sociality. Keywords: phenomenological sociology, world of work, massive multiplayer online gaming, finite provinces of meaning, sense of the real .