The Roundtable: Sleepwalking into the Matrix

Despite having no shortage of real-world crises to confront, we are increasingly content to let simulation overtake reality.

Author:
Roundtable Editor
Publish date:
Sep 20, 2022

A panel of commentators joined Roundtable to discuss sexual harassment, abortion, and other current hot-button issues. In this segment, the panel discusses the metaverse and our relationship to emerging forms of "reality."

Michael Loftus says he's frightened by the speed of digital developments, and suggests that they may offer clues of humanity's cosmic fate.

"I'm terrified of [the developing metaverse], but I definitely see the appeal," he says. "A lot of futurists and theorists believe that the some form of the metaverse is probably what happened to other more advanced alien civilizations."

He continues, "Once you can create your own digital universe, you can go exploring and you can do whatever with no physical harm to yourself. So there's no reason to go out to the stars."

Joy Villa states that the basic idea of a metaverse has been predicted by science fiction, most recently by the Matrix film series.

"You know what it is? It's the Matrix," she says. "We are willingly walking into the Matrix."

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