Why the Metaverse Is More of a Philosophical Breakthrough
The Metaverse seems to be the next big thing to look for in terms of technological evolution. But what if it actually is a whole lot more than just that? What if it is the definitive realization of John Locke's theory of the Social Contract?
In order to fully understand where I am going with this, let me just clarify my understanding of the Metaverse: it ain’t a physical place where people can go, since it only exists in the digital space. This means that the Metaverse is rather a place in time, or will be when it is fully released.
The “current” Metaverse
Right now we live in a somewhat alpha state of the Metaverse. If we take a good look around, our lives already depend, in some shape or form, on the digital: our jobs, our friendships, our finances, and even our identities.
For instance, the vast majority of workplaces have a digital platform that serves the purpose of interchanging information or storing data. Even meetings - and much because of the Pandemic - began to take place in the digital realm, via Zoom.
Social Media rapidly became the easiest way to connect with people. Even relationships can now be born from this, while in the past people had to physically meet in order to actually engage with each other. Also, they serve as our digital identity, as much of our lives are almost streamed in real-time - even though a lot of the time, this identity seems to be far too perfect to be true.
However, this made the digital self a bit more important than the actual self. Therefore, the Metaverse is happening. But before I explain why the Metaverse is the actual realization of John Locke’s social contract, I need to explain this one.
John Locke’s Social Contract
According to Locke, mankind should exist in a perfect and complete state of liberty — called the State of Nature — so each individual conducts one’s life as one best sees fit, without the interference of others. However, this does not mean that one is free to do anything one pleases or judges to be in one’s interest, disregarding the society one’s inserted, since the State of Nature requires the existence of morality to persevere.
This being said, Locke’s State of Nature is pre-political, in a sense that there is no civil authority or government that punishes law transgressions, but is not pre-moral, since one is bound to morality when it comes to conduction one’s life without wrongfully impacting the surrounding lives.
Since Locke supports the concept of human identity and selfhood with security, freedom, and property, in the current most democratic system possible, his vision of the State of Nature is fallible.
In such a democratic system, the government effectively protects human life as much as possible, through judicial and surveillance systems, however, and as we witnessed throughout history, it can as easily take those same lives away.
It may also be the government’s responsibility to ensure our freedom, but it can as easily be revoked. In a not-so-extreme and more positive example, during the current Pandemic, governments all over the globe restrained their respective people’s freedom in order to slow down the transmission of the virus.
Also, the governments have the responsibility to protect our property, however, and being honest, we never fully own our property, since the governments also have the possibility of depriving us of it at any moment. All it takes is a mere suspicion of illegal or criminal activities or simply landing on the bad side of the IRS, and the law enforcement will immediately limit the access of our assets or even take them as collateral.
This being said, in the real world, John Locke’s concept of human identity is impracticable, even in the best democratic system possible. And here is where the Metaverse shines.
The Metaverse as John Locke’s “Prophecy”
As I stated above, we already live in some form of the Metaverse, however, the version most discussed in the past weeks is more of a planetary civilization interface, as described by Michio Kaku, within the global communication system that is the Internet. This means that the Metaverse is a time simulation somewhere in the future.
When it comes to freedom, within the Metaverse, we’ll be able to live our digital lives as we see fit, without jeopardizing the lives of others. Do you want to change your identity and be a dog? Go ahead!
Also, you don’t have to always be present, because, unlike in the real world, where you have to live because, well, you are alive, you only live in the Metaverse when you access it.
Bitcoin — as the biggest example of cryptocurrency — will end up being the reinvention of property, once through it, we’re separating money from a centralized system. Unlike money, Bitcoin is virtually impossible to be destroyed, by will or need of printing money or stolen by others due to every wallet having a designated and intransmissible key and every transaction being calculated and traceable within the Blockchain technology.
Finally, and regarding security, our lives won’t suffer any consequences whatsoever, since earthly laws aren’t applicable within this simulation. In the real world, we can’t live as we see fit due to the existence of laws and social contracts that limit us from crossing the line. Yes, we could escape these laws, by isolating ourselves in a cabin, in the middle of the woods, away from society. But we would be depriving ourselves of facilities that can only be acquired within an organized state, like health support, energy, basic human interaction, or even a simple cup of coffee.
The divergence of cultural aspects, that are bound to the ever so multicultural real world, won’t be an issue in the Metaverse either, since it will be a common gathering place for everyone all over the globe and where our identity won’t be defined by anything else rather than our will.
Final Thoughts
At the risk of repeating myself, the Metaverse, besides being a technological advance, will also be the realization of Locke’s Social Contract and, therefore, a philosophical breakthrough.
It will be a place in time where we, as individuals, will be in complete control of life, liberty, and property, and where laws and values that prevail in the real world can’t be applied, in hopes of obtaining the same results.
It’s freedom without debauchery.
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