Does Cyberspace Exist?

I would hazard that the vast majority of people in the world have heard of this "mythical" place called Cyberspace. In fact, quite possibly more people have heard of cyberspace (and if you're reading this, then you can probably count yourself in that majority) than have heard of Transnistria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria). Now who had heard of that one until now? I hadn't until i looked up some obscure countries.

So, does cyberspace really exist?
This would depend on how you view existence.
Does something have to be physical and touchable to exist? Looking at the big picture, a lot of people believe in God. Of those, how many have seen God in person (not many, if any). Does this mean that God does not exist? To those who believe, God is very real, and very visible, and they alk to him or her on a regular basis.

Transposing the argument onto cyberspace, think of cyberspace as a large all knowing space where all knowledge is available to everyone (pretty much like God), except that you can interface with it through modern technology. This gives cyberspace a big edge over God in the existence stakes, as you are able to ask cyberspace a question (through your favourite search engine or AI), and you will get an answer.

Not convinced that cyberspace is a real place? Well your Government is. Doing a quick trawl of cyberspace (yep, interacting with a place you don't think exists) brings up some interesting results.
The US government certainly believes cyberspace exists. So much so that the NSA archive has some documents about it - https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cybervault/2016-01-20/united-states-cyberspace-military-organization-policies where it lists that the archive is posting 27 documents to help illuminate various aspects of US military operations in cyberspace (you know, that place which doesn't exist).
The UK government also believes cyberspace is exists. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-digital-strategy/5-a-safe-and-secure-cyberspace-making-the-uk-the-safest-place-in-the-world-to-live-and-work-online outlines the UK governments strategy to defend the Uk in this fictional (really, if its fictional, why is there a need to defend it)
The Australian government also has some documents online about its cyber security policy https://cybersecuritystrategy.pmc.gov.au/assets/img/PMC-Cyber-Strategy.pdf, and how it needs to defend its interests in a place you think doesn't exist.

There are quite possibly many more documents from other governments around the world which refer to cyberspace, and the need to defend their citizens and interests in cyberspace.

Still not convinced? You are hard work.....

Computer games create a virtual place where you can act in ways you would either not normally or not dare to act in your everyday life. You can run round an island picking up weaponry and killing people (PUBG), take to the stars and travel across galaxies (Elite), travel back in time and build your own civilisation (Civ series) or even drive a sports car which you have no chance of ever owning (Forza series). Now, as these thing don't happen in your "normal" life on earth (hopefully for at least one of them), they have to happen somewhere. Welcome to cyberspace, the only place where you can do things which your are constrained from doing elsewhere. A place where dying does not mean the end of your existence (you can die several hundred times a day if you so wish, and not feel any adverse health effects) and where if you get something wrong, you can travel back in time and try it again.

If you still don't believe cyberspace is real, go without your computer/tablet/smartphone/games console/digital streaming device (or anything which relies on an internet connection to work) for a week, and see how you feel at the end of it.......

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