Recently, the tiny island nation of Tuvalu declared it would be the first to fully reproduce itself in the metaverse.
Tuvalu is a group of nine islands in the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii. It fears its demise due to climate change.
The fatalism was part publicity stunt, part resignation as the Pacific nation attempts to deal with the climate catastrophes that are likely to hit their islands hardest.
However, the idea that it should capture an electronic version of itself, a virtual ghost within the shell, is a defiant reflection of our flawed attitudes towards technology as a savior, and the narrative that new technological realms will eventually replace our vibrant physical one.
Although it is still not fully built, the metaverse promises to be a fully immersive, universally virtual world powered with virtual reality and mixed reality technologies. Mark Zuckerberg first used the term when he announced in 2021 that his company would change its name to Meta and shift its focus towards metaverse technologies.
The metaverse expert claims have been made by pundits almost immediately, and they are vying for a slice of the “new” shiny phenomenon.
This naive futurism manifests itself in many ways. It is believed that believers will bring more technological marvels to the world – Web3, blockchain, casino online, cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens. There are many technological prophecies that seem incomprehensible or confusing. But we are already witnessing examples of new technologies crumbling.
Meta’s flagship metaverse project Horizon Worlds appears to be mostly empty and unpopular. Most people who visit don’t stay for more than a month. Wall Street Journal reports only nine percent of user-generated worlds on the platform are visited by more than 50 players. It seems that even Meta employees don’t want to use Horizon Worlds.
Meta’s stock is in deep trouble because of its persistent investment in the metaverse despite low returns and difficult economic conditions. It laid off 11,000 employees.
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange valued at $32bn, was once considered a linchpin in the Web3 world and is currently facing liquidation.
The disconnect between the promises of new technologies and today’s challenges is due to a philosophy that tech evangelists call “longtermism”.
Long-termism refers to the belief that we should support world-changing initiatives, such as the colonization and private space travel of Mars and Web3 and other metaverse projects, because their alleged future value will outweigh any disruptions in the immediate or present.
The tech barons of today, including Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos as well as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, have embraced long-termism. They believe that the current is only relevant if it has an impact on their visions for the future.
Author and philosopher Emile P. Turres criticize this way of thinking: “Why doesn’t Musk care about climate? It is not because of injustice or inequality of human suffering, but because it could suffocate us before we can colonize Mars.”
Longtermism favors an unrealized past over a troubled future. Its adherents claim moral authority, with vague notions that their actions will create future value. But they never think about the costs that society is paying today.
It is heartbreaking for Tuvalu to realize that they don’t feel they have any choice but to save their real-world community. All they have is an abstracted virtual copy.
If we create new technological worlds at our expense of solving today’s problems, then the metaverse will not be a shining new utopia. It will instead look like a digital graveyard full of lost memories and copies from a world we chose not to acknowledge.
