I was recently at a futurist conference and I was speaking to another lawyer about my concerns about the creation of a world (the metaverse) where people are living as avatars and playing games and spending ridiculous amounts of time and money on things like digital shoes for their avatar to wear to a party in the metaverse. I mean it, I am concerned about this because there are people sleeping in tent cities all around the world with zero access to the basics for a healthy life, not to mention the needed proper mental health care and then there are others who are living in a fake world and buying fake shoes to show off at a fake party. The colleague I was speaking with looked at me and said: “Who cares? Seriously, what do you care?” I laughed it off and responded: “yeah, I guess you’re right, who cares?” I thought to myself: people drive Maseratis downtown and buy baby clothes from high end retailers that would cover the average monthly mortgage payment of any north American, and while I think this is disproportionate, it doesn’t bother me as much as purchasing wearables in the metaverse. I am 47. I am not a gamer. I get there is a whole world out there that I will only slightly be a part of, but I think it’s important that we question all of this and the direction it takes us. I know there is a lot of good that is being created in the simulated worlds, but commercialism is a weird and unnecessary angle, IMHO. Let me know what you think!
human.dot.being 