THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
What if the Real World Had Avatars?
All the associations of appearance and gender would be dismantled.
If you stumble blindly around the internet like I do, you’ll likely have heard talk about the metaverse lately. (I have no desire to watch the Facebook pitch video, but I have seen the very funny spoof version and read Snow Crash).
For those playing catch-up, the metaverse is a virtual reality internet-world where people can interact with each other and the digital space. In the metaverse we will have avatars — 3d renderings — that represent us in this online world. It got me thinking about how avatars may loosen our ties to appearance.
Avatars would give us total control over our appearance in the metaverse: height, skin colour, hair colour, size, and shape. I’m guessing most people would start with a slightly more attractive version of themselves. Like a glamour photo — still you, but with professional makeup, perfect lighting and just a touch of photoshop. It makes sense that we associate ourselves with the body we have. It’s how others see us, and it’s what we’re invested in (health, appearance and self esteem-wise). But really, we needn’t look like ourselves, or even human for that matter.
Given the opportunity to look like anything, do our current facial features and body type really represent who we are as individuals? Would control over our appearance allow expression of another part of our selves?
I wonder if everyone would choose the same kinds of bodies — whatever was in fashion. Amorphous blobs are all the rage this season. Perhaps it’s the difficulty in technology that would create value. Having an avatar made out of 10 billion individual multifaceted gems would take a lot of processing speed, so perhaps would only be for the very wealthy?
Taking it one step further — imagine if we could move our minds into different bodies in real life?
Imagine if our consciousness could be disconnected from the hunks of meat we call home. Imagine if choosing a body was like choosing an outfit. Am I in a sexy-body mood, or a comfy-body mood today? Are we trying to make an impact or blend in? Do we feel like a male body or a female one? Or something else entirely, something fluffy, or with tentacles?
Your partner would be neither male or female, attractive or ugly — they’d probably just be wearing whatever body was clean that day. Your relationship with them would be with their mind, not their body. Would we place higher value on thoughts and feelings? Surely if everyone could be as attractive as they wanted, attractiveness would no longer hold any value. And just imagine the social revolution if genitals were optional!
Would we be more in tune with our senses if our bodies weren’t static? Aware of our extremities to avoid bumping into things. Noticing the different sensations of being very tall or very short, of having large or small ears. Would we have more fun with our bodies if we felt we were only borrowing them — like taking a hire car for a joy ride?
Obviously none of this will ever happen, but I think it’s fun to think about. Anything that softens the pressure we put on our bodies to conform to social standards can only be a good thing.
And when the universe is finally up and running, I’ll meet you at the bar — I’ll be the sparkly jelly in the corner.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this, check out more of my (free) Medium articles here: A little bit about me and my writing.
