For a long time, we have spoken about social media’s effect on self-esteem and mental health, about the consequences that stem from false digital advertising triggered by the ego. But what happens when the romanticization presented to the outer world gets closer to who we are on the inside? Who would we choose to become, if we are faced with two parallel versions of ourselves?
From being on the internet to being in the internet
We are in the midst of a paradigm shift, virtual realities are expanding in a rapid phase and three-dimensional digitality is no longer in the distant sci-phi future; it’s already here, and it has been for long. The term Metaverse was first coined in the early 90’s in Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash. Today, his prediction of Internet’s expansion is highly present all around us. In fact, even closer than you might think.
The concept of the Metaverse is a tridimensional space for anyone to interact in, boundless from the limitations of the physical world. In a series of virtual environments where everything we can experience in the real world, also exists in the Metaverse. However, in augmented reality, we perceive reality with fewer limitations and through a more enhanced lens.
Consciousness in the digital world
The development of the Metaverse aims to create simulations so vivid that they become inseparable from reality as we know it. Allowing us to escape the mundane of real life and actualize versions of ourselves that we might always have dreamt of becoming. But the question is, is the digital concept of the self a dangerous deviation from reality, or is it an opportunity to become who you feel like you’re truly meant to be?
A lot has been written about what the Metaverse will allow us to do as we engage in it, for example: have an important office meeting in the middle of a desert, drink virtual beer on top of a skyscraper, or dance barefoot in the rain amongst a group of strangers — all in the comfort of your own living room. While we often get caught up in the endless possibilities of what we could do, it is sometimes easy to forget the question of who we could be in the Metaverse.
For some, like American Youtuber Ryan Trahan, who spent 100 days in the Metaverse at the beginning of 2022, the question of digital self-development meant small, but yet meaningful, self-improvement.
“In the Metaverse, I am Bryan, 6´4” tall, confident, and not lactose intolerant.”
Can the physical versions of ourselves compete?
Even though we all could recognize the benefits that come with better gut health and self-esteem, the real discussion involves more substantial differences. For some, who never felt like they belonged in society, in their own body, or with the people around them, the Metaverse could be an opportunity to escape all of that. Still, some mean it would be just that — an escape, or even a dangerous delusion from reality, and that the Metaverse could never really replace real-life consciousness.
There is no doubt that the virtual doors to the new digital world have opened, but we still have the choice if we want to enter or not. However, the novelty of all things fades with time, and just as ordinary as the Internet feels to most of us today, there was a time when it seemed just as foreign as the Metaverse does today.
In 2025, Generation Alpha is estimated to make up for 2 billion of the world’s population — these will be individuals who have grown up with augmented reality, and thus, won’t have the experience of a world without it. It is therefore up to us to raise these questions, for ourselves but also for the coming generations.
When we can become whoever, whatever, wherever we are — can the physical versions of ourselves compete?