Written by Marc Demar
Is the Metaverse another step towards dystopia?
When I browse through comments under videos on the topic of the Metaverse, I notice they often paint a dystopian picture (a future Cyberpunk/Ready Player One/Matrix). But why is that? Are we really that close to dystopia? Or are people just afraid of radical change?
The more rational explanation is the latter. We didn’t invent the concept of comfort zones for nothing. Now, everyone experiences their own level of fear of change and feeling uncomfortable when change is upon us is quite common. People tend to fear change because of the uncertainty it brings. Neuro science research has shown that uncertainty registers in our brain much like an error does. It needs to be corrected before we can feel comfortable again, so we’d rather not have that hanging out there if we can avoid it.
So again, are we really heading for dystopia? Or are some people negative and opposed to the notion of a Metaverse because it means change? And brings uncertainty?
I started coding as a young kid back in the 80’s and I remember the excitement after having executed my very first “print (‘Hello World’)” statement (Commodore 64 in case you wonder). I shared this excitement with various relatives, but to my surprise they didn’t all share my enthusiasm for computers and programming. One uncle in particular painted a very dim future where computers and robots had taken over every imaginable job in the world by the year 2000. People would be superfluous by then. Talking about dystopian futures. Fifteen years or so later that same uncle started an Internet business. Selling…computers.
Looking back, I think it was a case of fear of change.
Don’t get me wrong. Change can be good or bad or everything in between. But creating a straw man in the form of a dystopian future to argue against, is not the way. Change cannot be stopped, but it can be steered via open and constructive dialogs.
The Metaverse isn’t a synonym for dystopia. Personally, I love the imagery and aesthetics of futuristic, dystopian worlds. But that doesn’t mean I find them particularly realistic.
Tear Down That…Barricade
What is way more realistic is that visiting the Metaverse (or rather a Metaverse destination) will feel as comfortable as browsing the Internet from the comfort of your own home (for some of the first movers it already is like that). The Metaverse is nothing else than a space for people to meet, socialize, play, shop and do business. Like a mall. Or the Internet. At the same time it represents a revolutionary change due to the virtual, spatial element.
One comment I often see as well is that interactions in a virtual world can never replace physical interactions. Meeting in a virtual place can never be the same as meeting in-real-life (thus we should not pursue the Metaverse). This is another straw man argument. Who has ever claimed it would be the same? Or that it should replace meeting physically? That would be absurd.
A variation to that argument is that the more we project ourselves into the digital realm, the more we distance ourselves from what really matters; human relationships, helping the less fortunate, taking care of our planet and whatever other higher goals we humans should pursue. These are all admirable pursuits, but how many of us spend how much time doing those things already today? In-real-life that is? It is easy to blame technology, but isn’t reality that we have distanced and barricaded ourselves behind walls of comfort? It is easy to blame technology, it is much harder to drop that Netflix show (brought to you by technology), get up from the couch and hand out free food to homeless people in the pouring rain.
The big misconception here is that technology (in this case spatial computing) creates distance. Technology is a facilitator. To what ends we use it depends on us. Ultimately, the Metaverse is made by people, for people and inhabited by people. How this new technology, the Metaverse, will be utilized differs from person to person. Whether you want to start a business, hang out, play and be entertained or help the less fortunate, raise awareness for environmental issues (or all of the above), is up to you.
For real change we need to tear down our own barricades. But this has nothing to do with the Metaverse.
Hello Somnium WORLD
But yes, hello Somnium WORLD. Hello amazing new VR platform. May you be inhabited by people who are radical. People who are not afraid of change and with their actions will be an example to the world.
That the world can be changed on the inside and from the inside. Of the Metaverse that is.
One line of code at a time. One build at a time. One WORLD at a time.
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