When I was a child, I imagined (and I’m sure most children have thought this) that an alternate world existed in the mirror. I used to look along the edges and try to peer along the sides, to glimpse round the corners, to see the surface from below. Hotel corridors presented impossible worlds of double mirrors where, frustratingly, you could not see between or around. I felt like I had to step into it, somehow.
Is this the appeal of virtual reality? As we create alternate worlds of existence, these become increasingly detailed and life-like. We create alternate virtual realities, and alternate virtual identities. To what end? I see it is useful in architecture; we can simulate appearance and performance datasets and pre-empt issues that may arise in construction. However, it does not replace human intelligence or sensory experience. Do we want it to?
In our alternative world of the internet, we have created new currencies – social currencies, cryptocurrencies, advertising and software application currencies…maybe most sinisterly as well, the currency of personal data. This whole virtual world exists, and grows ever richer in its level of definition. But just like the mirror, it isn’t real. It’s merely a reflection, an illusion of some kind, and we cannot pass the barrier into it.
The appeal of going beyond this mirror is lost to me. I enjoy the odd bit of escapism with a good film or book, but I do not see what the ultimate benefit or aim of this constantly plugged-in culture is delivering us. I can’t remember the name of the study, but a few years ago heard it posited that the amount of (physical) social engagements a person has per day has one of the most direct impacts on their life expectancy. If that’s true then I’d doesn’t bode well for our generation.
I want my children to engage with the real world, see it with all their senses. It is so full of richness and beauty. We have the real thing right before us, and it’s soul-destroying and fundamentally unnatural to remove ourselves from it. The alternate reality is all very good, but as a society we have become drunk and giddy with it. Like any drug, moderation and appreciating when it has its uses is more sensible. It’s time to sober up.
meandertect 