Secluded Gods
I imagine a future where we make our own worlds, and live like Digital Deities.
For most of human history this power has rested in the hands of writers who fashioned universes for us to inhabit. More recently, directors and video game creators have done the same. But, this ability will be widespread and easy one day. The world builders of the future will create using technology. What was once the purview of the pen will pass to all people with a few clicks. Our worlds will be full of Sims-like creations in possession of their own consciousness, whose lives pivot on our whims. We will be Gods of our own little domains.
What would we fill our worlds with? Would we, if finally given the chance, build something like our own world except without the problems ours has? That seems noble, and poetic. More likely though, the power will corrupt given enough time — it usually does, after all.
What of our fellow humans — would we even see them, or would they be too preoccupied with the utter domination (or day-to-day maintenance, as the case may be) now at their fingertips? Or perhaps a new pantheon is in store for the inhabitants of these simulations, for better or worse. For some, a monotheistic reality where the creator and ruler is greedy for their adoration. For others, a group of Gods (i.e. their friends who have shared admin permissions) to be worshipped.
It’s hard to imagine the physical world having much allure at this point. With the exception of some rebellious anti-technology feral futuristic hippies, we would sit like secluded Gods. All powerful, all alone.
Is it hard to imagine the physical world having much allure at his point for humanity in general or for yourself? Do you mean that your ties to the physical world thriugh your flesh prison makes things dull, or that society isn't grounded enough? Why, in the name of all that is good and holy... would we want to become digital deities?
I am very interested in this issue and the reasons you might have behind these notions.
I went to a Frida Kahlo exhibition recently that had a VERY trippy VR experience, it felt unbelievably so damn real to be flying on Frida's bed. It started off in her room, rather peacefully, and you could observe all around you and see how she furnished it, with birds chirping out the window....then the bed starting moving and coasting along the streets of Mexico, with gigantic buildings on either side....when the bed started lifting and going straight into the universe My tummy did a little wobble and I gripped my seat.
I think the experience only lasted 10 minutes but honestly it was the most wondrous feeling...coming back to reality was a bit of a bummer...I briefly felt what Buzz Aldrin must have felt when he went to a massive depression after coming back from the Moon.
I think constructed realities as you describe have the potency to become addictive, which could lead to huge social problems...people already invest their lives in social media and it's only a matter of time before we will want to permanently occupy an augmented reality to escape the one we are currently in.