The expanding metaverse: wild west of the future

One thing many utopiac visions of a technological singularity fail to consider are the mitigating social, ethical, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development of technology.

This article by Jamais Casco illustrates my point. I'm sure that two decades ago futurists pontificating about the glorious democratization of information on the Internet didn't anticipate spam e-mail. This is not to say the benefits of the Internet are nullified by spam, but it demonstrates the practical and unexpected ramifications of new technology.

Currently, there is very little accountability on the Internet. Almost every action I take is anonymous and largely unfiltered. There are measures in place to prevent cybercrime, but it goes largely unreported and unchecked.

It is interesting to consider social behavior on the Internet within the context of anonymity and the moral vacuum it can create. I am reminded of Plato's Republic where Glaucon proposes a character, Gyges, who becomes corrupt when he discovers a ring that makes him invisible. Plato spends a good deal of his work proving that an unjust man is unhappy even if there is no social pressure for him to be unhappy with his injustice (and the inverse.)

The Internet truly provides an opportunity to be anonymous and invisible, and without social and legal pressures to suppress "amoral" tendencies. The result is very nearly the Gyges hyptohesis incarnate.

One only has to look at the anonymous comments on a political blog to see that people are far less concerned with decorum or even harassment via the anonymous medium of the Internet. I should note that I am considering Internet "handles" to be anonymous identities as there is virtually no verification process for any self-reported information.

As the Internet begins to merge with the physical world, the so-called "metaverse," I believe greater accountability will be necessary and inevitable.

Actions on the Internet already have real world ramifications, but they aren't usually directly physical. As soon as people can be physically affected by actions on the Internet; your car windshield being hacked to display ads for example, accountability will follow Adam Smith's invisible hand.

Even as people become more immersed in digital networks and social contracts develop to promote trust in those networks; the information superhighway is still a little more Mad Max than Family Vacation.

Oh, and if you don't believe that hacking your windshield is possible; check out this humorous article about advertising in the future.

-Robot Crusoe