Cultural Adaptation of Man in the Construction of Digital Reality: Challenges and Prospects

The purpose of this study is a comprehensive philosophical analysis of the processes of human adaptation to digital reality, identifying its structural challenges and prospects with an emphasis on the transformation of basic anthropological and socio-cultural constants. Special attention is paid to phenomena caused by the digitalization of consciousness and everyday life: digital amnesia (loss of the ability to longterm memorization due to constant access to digital sources), information fatigue (cognitive overload due to excessive information flow), digital inequality (social stratification based on access to digital resources) and identity mutation (formation of the “digital self ” in the online environment). The relevance of the problem is confirmed by empirical data. According to international research agencies, more than 60% of Internet users experience daily difficulties with concentration, and about 45% of young people in developed countries experience a feeling of “digital loneliness” despite constant online involvement. As a result, digital reality not only facilitates access to information, but also makes new existential and ethical demands on a person. The authors of the article offer a conceptual toolkit for understanding these phenomena from the standpoint of modern philosophy, including the use of M. Heidegger’s ideas about technology as a way of revealing being, M. Castells’s theory of network society and P. Virilio’s analysis of virtuality. The study is aimed at developing a critical discourse on the future of man in the era of the digital anthropocenosis and at forming a strategy of philosophical reflection adequate to the challenges of the 21st century.