Metaverse - Synthetic happiness

Why do human beings get so easily drawn to things like alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, vaping, binge eating, binge Netflix & Amazon Prime shows, work addiction, expensive lifestyle, etc.(to name a few as the list is really very long). Even when the consumer knows that these are detrimental and the happiness and pleasure from these things is temporary (till the time you are consuming it); he gets magnetically attached to these items. Once these are shut down, the consumer goes further down the dark alley of his mind. On the flip side, even if we are prescribed in black and white by the most expensive and well renowned expert doctors to follow a healthy lifestyle of waking up at 5AM, go for morning walks & exercise, meditation and yoga, early evening wind up from blue lights; we struggle to get at practise even 10% of these rituals and even after accomplishing this 10% within a span of a month or so; we allow to let go of these habits excusing ourselves of hardship to inculcate them in our daily regime. As humans, we want to reduce pain & enhance pleasure. We are also lazy. So, to get desirable outcome of pleasure & forgetting our inner pain by putting minimum efforts we take to synthetic happiness. With this insight; let’s explore whether “Metaverse” can generate synthetic happiness and subsequently a seamless world for generations to come.

What is Metaverse? The place where you live digitally: shop digitally, play digitally, do business digitally, have meetings and conferences digitally, socially interact with others in your digital avatar; all this in a seamless way. It is a really important vision for the future of technology. There will be a 3D world rendition of this Metaverse place and our beautiful minds shall make it very powerful by connecting emotionally & socially with others intensely in this world just like we connect with each other presently with eyes & ears. It is collection of technologies, business models and interactions that will be very different from today’s Internet. Maybe the term “Metaverse” may change just like the word “Information superhighway” changing to present day "Internet”. Today nobody even remembers the previous word “information superhighway” and are seamlessly living in the real world of the Internet. But yes, the synthetic pleasure we are and will be getting from this virtual world shall be phenomenal. Our focus from physical world to digital world has been progressing since decades. Workplace has moved from conference rooms to video calls. Friendships are increasingly made online through twitter and discord communities. Video games are quickly replacing physical games as dominant physical activities. New technologies have been shifting our attention for decades now. Our physical connection with others started reducing decades ago when TV took some our every day time. Then came computers in workplace and slowly to our homes. Now we have mobile phones carrying it with us wherever we are going interacting, working, shopping and playing in it. Hence, the face of synthetic pleasure from digital technologies is already in progress. Once digital world ecosystem of Metaverse is fully functional along with digital devices easily accessible and easy for us to adapt and & stay in it for long long hours; we will start breathing in Metaverse. It will be a complete shift of human behaviour of experiencing Metaverse. Synthetic happiness of immersive world of Metaverse may fuse into our life completely.

This is not a article to contest whether Metaverse is good or bad. However, having explained Metaverse in above paragraph, we have to keep in mind that " Human beings are meant to live by each other's happiness not by each other's miseries." Our earth is very rich and has room for everyone, every creature. Earth can provide for everyone. If “Metaverse” is used by humans ensuring it would not be another source of crushing digital addiction, unyielding superficial interruption and massive attraction to online amusements and we can live our life free and beautiful; then this upcoming technology is definitely a boon. It should not happen that we should be shutting ourselves in. Digital experience should not give us abundance ion one hand and on the other hand should not leave us in want. It should not make us cynical. Our hearts should not become hard and unkind. It is mandatory for us to think less and feel more to remain within the periphery of humankind. Metaverse can bring human closer but kindness and gentleness of our heart should grow along. Let “Metaverse” not regiment our lives i.e. what to think & what to feel. Love of humanity in our hearts should not die out by letting ourselves to be slaves of technology. It is the human consumer who can decide whether in the name of “Virtual Moghuls”, we can keep it within the perimeter of wonderful adventure or enslave ourselves. If “Metaverse” gives future to youth and security to old age; then it is a win-win for all. Let us all endeavour not to strive to become millionaires & billionaires and stand on the back of others to show our capability.

Let’s strive to make “Metaverse”, a world of reason, a world where technology and progress together will lead to eternal human happiness and freedom from shackles of greed and empowerment.