our virtual world
a ®eMark from eMark ™
Before computers were injected into our lives, we experienced life in an analog fashion. I am not arguing worse or better here, just pointing this out.
It matters because all of our thought processes have changed as the digital tech has grown around us. We could have a good discussion as to whether our own brains operate analogically or digitally.
Our synapses are firing and chemicals mixing and the resulting magic that we call ‘conscientiousness’ happens. Some argue that we are all just pretending, none of this is real. Some say that is just a ‘cop-out’ to avoid the harshness of reality.
But whatever makes us ‘aware’ has changed radically in just my lifetime. As a ‘Baby Boomer’, (the label of my generation), I have clearly witnessed (more so than most), the change in the way we perceive ourselves.
Hey! Why do you think you see more than most? Are you a brainiac? Did you get spiritual intervention?!
Here, I thought it was necessary to ‘troll’ myself. No, I am not a Mensa, and I don’t have a hotline to God, but I am intrinsically a part of a small group that talks to me, I guess genetically?
I, since that gap after birth until awareness have known I was, and still am, a philosopher. What? What the hell does that mean? To me it means if I was born thousands of years ago, Plato would be my best friend.
Just as sports fans discuss the latest games, and doctors the latest cures, Plato and I would discuss the human condition, why we do what we do and how we tick. This does not make me elite or special, just different.
Great people come in all flavors, colors, sizes, packages, genders, etc.., everyone has their ‘thing’ that makes them valuable to their community, or they have a gaping hole in their existence.
In my life my ‘gaping hole’ has been filled by mass communication while in my radio career as a DJ and Production Director, and as an IT professional with the Home Depot, IBM, and my own computer business.
But in my heart, I have always been (and will always be), a philosopher. My portal of awareness starts at why? Why are we here? Why do we think? Why do we act? Why do we need to communicate? How much of what we see is truth?
I’m not flipping out here, as some may think. These are comfortable questions to a philosopher. We are driven to look for answers, but not lost or depressed if they are not found. Truth is always ‘out there’, as Fox Mulder says. Not necessarily about aliens but I believe the truth is always out there, just out of reach.
Now this is an area of contention with some I have met. They want a secure World where they have all the answers. (If you are one of those, it might be best to just say, ‘hogwash’ and stop reading this article.)
I am content to always look for truth, knowing I keep getting closer but probably will never attain it completely. That allows me to accept the concept of infinity, something that never started, and never ends. It just is.
As a philosopher that questions everything, I am aware of our ‘rose-colored glasses’ we all wear that assumes everything is here just for us.
Think about that. Some of our biggest fallacies throughout history have come about due to this focused view. All the stars revolve around the Earth, surely, if it is all here just for us, that would be true!
And I remind you, the brightest minds of our times have been mistaken, more times than not throughout history. I predict that trend will continue. Some truth is usually gained, but there is always room for refinement.
Philosophy is a science, and to be truthful, all sciences are always lacking some degree of truth. This will really bug some Scientists, as they by nature seek the perfect answer and most aren’t happy until they find it.
For that reason, (financial gain I would assume), and for ‘the good of all mankind’, they sometimes rush to judgement with an hypothesis.
IMHO, there are a few Scientists that are willing to hear all sides, allow opposing views that tear away at the new theory, (even if grant and funding losses would result), to get that much nearer to the truth.
Today’s science is highly colored by the funding those Scientists get, or don’t get. There are documented cases where a Scientist with opposing ideas to what is popular, have lost all their funding. Others have been sued for just using charts (of other Scientists) to show opposing ideas.
I am sorry to get so negative here, but truth can sometimes be ugly. Sometimes the truth can be amazing. Quantum computers, gene-splicing (about to eliminate several diseases), self-driving transportation, and virtual reality.
That last one is my topic of interest within this article. What is virtual reality? Movies have taught us it is a playground of holograms (ala, Star Trek, or Minority Report), but the Philosopher within me believes we have already slipped in a virtual reality and are not aware of it!
BC, (before computers) we only had our imaginations for escape. That’s not really true, as there were drugs, and games and music and poems and all the arts, really.
But, as computers grew up we had other escapes. It started as a square ‘ball’ bouncing on the screen and today with the right monitor or headset you could be fooled into believing almost anything!
Many eye-popping special effects in today’s cinema are CG (computer generated). Now that line, although it is getting blurrier day by day, is still easy to recognize.
The one we have already crossed into, not so much. From my perspective, our senses, (tools of perception) have been hijacked long ago. We transitioned from our reality (never completely there if you ask me), to this current virtual reality we live within today.
Obviously, Silicon Valley built our Virtual World that we have accepted as our new reality. No one wants to look too close or object for fear of ostracization. Everyday reality is bent by a small minority of tweeters, for one example. Selfish algorithms coded to addict everyone, almost entirely for monetary gains, are warping our reality.
From my philosophical point of view, we are easily herded from one reality to the next. We are led to believe these are conveniences of our own choosing, but in truth we are just going away from reality to whatever the programmers code next, and ultimately that is what addicts us further and makes more money and power.
It is interesting that most of us would like to be wealthy. Thousands and we crave more, Millions, enough to live comfortably should be enough. But, Billions are only good for one purpose and that is to exercise power.
The tech companies that have achieved Billions are targeting our reality the most. I can only assume that the Billionaire owners think we should all live within a virtual reality of their choosing. This is the ultimate high for a Billionaire, controlling the World.
Philosophically observing those motives, I see a god-complex that believes they alone can make a better World. Those huge financial resources allow them to bend reality with social media, advertising, and today, a majority of news outlets.
If this was not true, how can so many people be wrong? What? Who am I to say of whom is right or wrong? I agree, but let’s apply some simple reality here. There are two diametrically opposed groups in this country today, right? Each comprises about half of all the voters.
If the ‘A-group’ is right, why so many wrong ‘B-groupers’? And if the ‘B-group’ is right, why so many confused ‘A-groupers’? I propose our ‘Billionaires with better ideas’ are responsible. (Actually, we are responsible for our own actions, by one standard), but our ‘Billionaire drug dealers’ serving up pure psycho-addicting virtual reality doesn’t make our choices any easier!
Try an experiment on a friend. It does not matter which political view they hold. Just tell them something that their news service wrote but reverse the names. I’ll bet they follow the news slant either way rather than care about the action taken. The binary hatred is ‘baked in’ by the Billionaires.
If we ever escape this virtual reality we could once again have meaningful conversations with differing views and each change a little by any new information presented. Funny, but I’ll bet you think that crazy idea is a fantasy from a virtual World?
‘nuff said
respectful comments are always welcome