All Aboard for Virtual Utopia?
All Aboard for Virtual Utopia?
Spoiler: Your Body Still Matters.
Could the Matrix one day create fulfilling lives for humans? William Hasselberger calls that dream, “virtual utopia.”
Proponents of virtual reality (VR), such as Mark Zuckerberg and Ray Kurzweil, claim that virtual avatars can provide a complete sense of personal presence and that virtual bodies can replace physical bodies.
There are advantages to virtual worlds, Hasselberger acknowledges …
safety
intense pleasures
democratization of experiences
freedom from physical limitations
But there are downsides too …
disconnection from the real world
diminished significance of the human body and natural surroundings
Unlike Descartes, Hasselberger argues that our experience of living bodies is not merely as an object but as a “medium for having a world,” as Merleau-Ponty says.
The article explores numerous aspects related to VR …
transhumanist views
David Chalmers’ notion of virtual realism
Cartesian dualism
integration of VR with brain implants
virtual companions and lovers
While VR may provide some aspects of human connection, they lack the authentic depth and vulnerability of genuine relationships.
Hasselberger believes that VR can only approximate the kinds of of awe, wonder, and reverence we experience IRL. Instead, he urges people to be embrace the beauty and mystery of the physical and avoid retreating into the virtual.