Sensorial experience does not need physical displacement. Can virtual reality, therefore, replace physical reality?
I’m not a very big supporter of virtual reality. I believe that it could lead to the eradication of the concept of human contact which our species has known since its beginning. I cannot deny that virtual reality would be greatly beneficial to a multitude of lives. For example, people with mobility issues could fully take advantage of this feature. But the consequences on the totality of earth’s population are not to be taken lightly. Although it may not be obvious in the first years, as even now, we are vastly immersed in the culture of overusing technology, Slowly but surely, our current reality will deteriorate.
Everything seems to be possible at the touch of our fingertips. These new values will be imprinted on us and on future generations until the switch will be completed. We will start losing our ambitions and we will forget that it is hard work that can truly bring us somewhere far. Soon it will be the demise of humanity as we know it. I don’t want to sound pessimistic but the facts seem to be aligning in this direction. Instead of being in charge, it will be the machines that are in total control. It will seem like it’s our decision, and that is a great mistake, that will make us fall even further down. We will simply be pieces of meat floating around, strapped to technology, distanced from the warm connections we once had.
And if people care to argue by saying that it is better for our environment, they can think again. The time, money, resources, and energy coming from our planet will be required in big quantities and manufacturing will be an enormous source of greenhouse emissions in order to make virtual reality successfully happen.
I think that we should be grateful for what we have in the here and now. We should find solutions to the current problems we have in front of us instead of taking an alternative route, cowardly, and then masking it off as the better way. Although sensations and smells might be replicated in virtual reality, they will never truly replace the real thing, and that is an undeniable fact. By doing this, we would not only be saving our health and our dignity but also burying the so-called book of human foolishness, ultimately saving the planet.
