Real world

The real world is generally a colloquial term for the physical reality of everyday life which everyone experiences; it is also referred to as the human condition. More specifically, the term has both context-dependent meanings, and also occurs as a proper name.

Context-dependent meaning

• Real world military exercise: indicating combat; in contrast to a simulation or a field exercise, or other military operation that does not involve armed conflict with hostile forces.
• Meatspace a neologism indicating inter-personal activity involving the physical presence of individuals; in contrast to activity that transpires in virtual reality or a virtual world.
• Real life (personal):
  • indicating direct personal engagement in some (usually "serious") activity; in contrast to leisure or recreational activities, especially those related to the Internet.
  • indicating the stage of life following the completion of formal education or schooling (e.g. "After students enter the real world, they may not be able to sleep late as often as they did while in school").
• Real world (analytic):
  • indicating any of various observable phenomena that may be relevant under a particular scientific hypothesis or mathematical theory.

Proper name

• The Real World, an American television show airing on MTV in which seven strangers are chosen to live together in a home
• Real World Records, a record label owned by recording artist Peter Gabriel
• yourself or someone like you, an album by American rock band matchbox twenty that contained the hit single "Real World"
• The Real World (web comic), a web comic
• Young Dubliners (music), album
• "Real World", a song by Pere Ubu from their 1978 album The Modern Dance
• "Real World", a song by the Seattle-based band Queensrÿche from the soundtrack to the 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero