Metaverse Optimism
How do we live in the metaverse?
Popularised by Facebook's company name change, the concept of 'meta' has sparked a radical new vision. One that is a fully immersive, universal virtual world powered by virtual reality and mixed reality technology. Since then, tech develpers have been dividing into the limitless possibilities of the metavers. But how much of it do we really understand?
As optimistic as the start of the metaverse was, recent crashes in Meta stock, FTX scandals, and a crypto-currency state that is now facing liquidation conveys a shaky future. So if today's technology fails to solve our current challenges, can we reconcile our future optimism with the realistic state of our present?
If you're a fan of 'longtermism', you've already got an answer...
Longtermism (Noun)
A view that we should support world-changing projects because the alleged future value these will bring humanity justifies any potential disruption in the present.
Longtermism focuses more on an unrealised future over a troubled present. The thing is, when we hyperfocus on our vision for the future, our 'new world' will simply be a collection of concerns we ignored in the past.
One country in particular remains optimistic in the metaverse and future tech. South Korea boasts an ambitious 58.2 trillion won ($44.6 billion) plan to transform its economy that will embrace new technologies, called the "Digital New Deal." As a nation, this plan is a platform that facilitates an innovative alternative to help people work and provide entertainment.
Taking it a step further, South Korea has announced that their "Metaverse Seoul" project, a public administration platform where residents will be able to do various administrative tasks in the metaverse. Indonesia also shares the same sentiment on the matter. Populix's survey on Indonesian Gen-Z reveals that they are eager to see more metaverse features such as avatars, augmented reality, virtual reality, and NFTs. Metaverse's potential will remain bright when its features significantly solve people's current problems.
