Real Life Demarcation Problem

The specific struggle to distinguish "real life" (RL) from digital, virtual, or fictional experiences, especially when the latter have profound real-world consequences. It asks: Is the community you build in an MMO "real life"? Are the emotions you feel in VR "real"? The problem highlights that "real life" is often a value judgment ("go live your real life") used to dismiss experiences that are emotionally or socially valid but don't involve physical co-presence. The line is porous because digital actions (a tweet, a crypto trade) now create irreversible RL outcomes.

Example: "My mom said my online friends 'aren't real life.' But when I was depressed, they were the ones who called in a wellness check that saved me. The Real Life Demarcation Problem means the call from a voice I'd only ever heard on Discord was the most consequential, 'realest' intervention of my life. The care was real; the medium was incidental."

by AbzuInExile February 1, 2026

Appeal to Real Life Fallacy

The fallacy of dismissing an argument, theory, or principle because it doesn't match the speaker's personal, anecdotal, or perceived "common sense" experience of "real life." It privileges a specific, often limited, lived experience over systematic evidence, abstract reasoning, or the experiences of others. It's a variant of the anecdotal fallacy that claims the gritty, messy "real world" invalidates cleaner models or ideals.

Appeal to Real Life Fallacy Example: "Your economic theory about universal basic income sounds nice in a textbook, but in real life—which you'd know if you ever ran a small business—people would just stop working." This dismisses studies and pilots by appealing to a singular, entrenched view of how "real life" (often meaning a competitive, transactional world) supposedly operates.

by Abzugal February 3, 2026