On October 28, 2021, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the change of his company’s name to “Meta” as well as his plans for the future, in this one hour and fifteen minute video. It opens up some food for thought.
In a philosophical approach, reality is not as concrete and intangible as our daily experience makes it. Indeed, we only perceive what we call “reality” through our organs of perception, which we know to be imperfect, as well as through the filters of our cultures and our memories. Questions like “Are we living in a simulation?” or “Are there parallel universes?” are not at all absurd in philosophical terms.
Thus, the future “metaverse” advocated by Mark Zuckerberg, if it ever exists, may not be so foreign to us. This “new reality” will not be virtual. It will be enabled by digital technologies and networks, which change the very conditions of life. For all that, it seems important to me, since these technologies are built and sold by the great industries of contemporary capitalism, to forge one’s critical spirit. There is still plenty of time, because they are not yet mature, especially in terms of interoperability (possibility for several systems to connect to a common “universe”).
Definition of metaverse
The metaverse is a concept of a decentralized, interactive online virtual universe that allows users to participate in an immersive virtual reality experience. Users can interact with other people and virtual objects in a virtual world that can be designed to look like real life or be completely fantastical. The metaverse is often associated with a futuristic vision of technology and society, where people can explore new worlds, create virtual objects, play games, attend online events and even work and socialize in a virtual space. There are currently several projects in development to create a metaverse, but none have yet achieved widespread popularity or adoption.
This definition was written by ChatGPT on February 12, 2023.
For my part, I think that having fun with these ideas and technologies, hijacking them, doing something other than what they were intended for, is a good way to build one’s own thinking, one’s critical thinking through creativity, by confronting the reality of these objects. Our future freedom is at stake.
