Conceptual rendering of the Metaverse
The Metaverse is probably the most powerful cultural influence on the early part of the 21st century. And it is growing like crazy!
What exactly is it?
The Metaverse is an unseen, consistent layer of collective virtual space that covers our world. It includes the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet.
“Meta” is the prefix meaning “beyond” and, in this case, is used to describe the future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, virtual spaces linked into the physical world.
The phrase was originally coined by science fiction writer, Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, Snow Crash.
The Metaverse has already encroached upon our lives.
We text at the dinner table, we play games that actually pay you at board meetings, we check our apps to see if we need more protein or more carbs, or check with our trusted sources, our friends, to see what to do or see or be.
The exponential growth of smaller computer chips and the rise in their power and speed has helped create the Metaverse. The attributes contained in Moore’s Law are providing the fuel for rapid further growth.
And computing power is leaping off our laptops and will soon be a staple in our clothes, counters, and walls.
There is nothing we can do but embrace it; if we are in the modern world, we can not escape it.
At the same time, we need to keep cautionary eyes and hearts upon it.
The Metaverse should enhance the quality of our life; not take it over.
And while we can not escape it, as its rapid growth is a phenom, and the easy dopamine it provides, intoxicating; we still have the ability to turn it off and unplug it.
It’s a good new word to use with your kids. “Don’t get caught up with that Metaverse!”
It surely we open a discussion about a “balanced life”.
I never fully understood the power of the concept of “self-restraint” for myself until the Metaverse grew with such prominence.
The Little Shop Of Horrors, 1986. Seymour Krelborn could not control Audrey II who grew with great speed in his shop.
