We have all seen this scene played out in a restaurant. Two people sitting in the same booth across from one another busily engaged. But they are not engaged in conversation, that is not with each other. They are each busily looking at their phones, scrolling and pecking and thumbing. They might be playing a game with someone else, or texting with someone else, or watching a video, or checking the weather, or conversing with an image on the screen...
Such were the beginnings of the metaverse.
What is the metaverse? The internet provided several similar definitions, but this one seemed to describe the phenomenon in a nutshell: “a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the one in which we live.” Today, that world is being greatly enhanced through the use of virtual reality headsets which enable the wearer to play games with other people, tour exotic places, ski... - do just about anything virtually. It is a virtual reality. Virtual means practically or in effect, but not in actual fact. It appears to be real, but in fact is not.
It is another uni-verse.
Now we’re not arguing against technology or video games or being able to post something on social media. What we are arguing is that this is a dangerous game we play because this metaverse can swallow us like Jonah’s great fish and replace reality for us.
When it’s more important to you to play that video game with your pals than discuss your finances with your spouse - beware!
When you prefer telling all your “friends” about your lunch and your plans for the day rather than walk your dog - beware!
When you would rather “surf the north shore of Hawaii” than play catch with your son - beware!
There is only one reality. “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.”
><> Jeff
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