Welcome To The Metaverse
Virtual reality as an escape from real world dystopia has a long tradition in science fiction. Is Mark Zuckerberg bringing it to life?
Facebook Goes Meta
Last week's biggest news out of Silicon Valley was Facebook's (FB) announcement that it was rebranding as "Meta", as part of its corporate embrace of the "Metaverse".
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explains his “Metaverse” virtual world concept, which he says is about “connecting with people.” pic.twitter.com/24YZk5ag5J
— The Recount (@therecount) October 28, 2021
The Dystopian Playbook
The term Metaverse was coined by Neal Stephenson in his dystopian novel Snow Crash. Stephenson tweeted on Friday that he has no connection with Facebook/Meta otherwise.
Since there seems to be growing confusion on this: I have nothing to do with anything that FB is up to involving the Metaverse, other than the obvious fact that they're using a term I coined in Snow Crash. There has been zero communication between me and FB & no biz relationship.
— Neal Stephenson (@nealstephenson) October 29, 2021
Mark Zuckerberg almost certainly has read Snow Crash; it's a favorite of tech types from Google co-founder Larry Page to Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson. And Neal Stephenson has been one of America's most prophetic novelists. Already two dystopian trends he predicted in Snow Crash have come true: people living in shipping containers, and mass illegal migration from the Global South to America (although in Stephenson's book, they came by sea, which was likely an homage to JeanRaspail's earlier novel, The Camp of the Saints; for an even earlier dystopian novel that has proven prescient, see our previous post, That Hideous Strength).
In Snow Crash, the Metaverse is, among other things, a virtual reality escape from the actual reality of living in a shipping container. That idea was borrowed in a later dystopian novel, Ready Player One, which was made into Spielberg movie in 2018.
A warren of shipping container homes in Ready Player One (2018).
As The American Sun noted, the push for a virtual escape from dystopia suggests the powers that be aren't working to prevent a dystopia.
Metaverse is an admission they are not going to fix anything in the real world but will allow digital heroin as an escape
— The American Sun (@NewAtlantisSun) October 30, 2021
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, then, that the "eat the bugs" folks at World Economic Forum have taken an interest in Meta.
Facebook is now 'Meta.' What is the metaverse and why should we care? https://t.co/LFBZMJocox pic.twitter.com/ebEYSOmCjB
— World Economic Forum (@wef) October 29, 2021
