It can be the raft, the ladder, the transitional space, the moratorium, that is discarded after reaching greater freedom. If it is true that 90 percent of sex is in the mind, then such an encounter might be almost as emotional as the real thing. Playing in a MUD may be entertaining, stimulating, and growth-enhancing for a healthy adult. But for an immature individual, it might also be frightening or traumatic. There are, for example, programs designed to present themselves as psychoanalysts.
People tend to project their own complexity onto the computer.
Some therapists have experimented with having computers do preliminary work with patients, and some patients have found the programs helpful. While the phenomenon of cyberpsychology is not in itself troubling, given the current state of the technology, it is important for therapists to be upfront about the fact that patients are consulting with a computer program. But, as programs become more sophisticated, Turkle raises the startling possibility that they may have some measure of intelligence or personlike life. A number of decades ago, the brilliant computer scientist Alan Turing proposed a test to determine whether a computer was intelligent. He suggested that a person of average intelligence be allowed to communicate through a keyboard with an unknown in another room, asking any question the player wished.