The concept of a universe in which the virtual world is just as real as the “real” world is absolutely mind-blowing. And I don’t really know how to feel about it.

On one hand, there’s this part of me that feels like Julia Stiles, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bLlj_GeKniA – the pure, excited, impulsive, capricious, geeky part of me that is madly in love with the internet and the virtual realm and is squealing, “Ohmygoshohmygosh it would be just like living in the holodeck!!!”; and on the other hand there’s the frightened, cautious, conspiracy theorist hippie that worries about the multiple ramifications of that sort of world.

For one thing, the only way this would be a good thing is if everyone truly had equal access to education on operating in the cyber-world. I can imagine a really scary, Oh-My-God-It’s-1984-All-Over-Again sort of scenario where an elite group of people or even one person could manipulate everyone else’s lives.

Then, of course, there’s the fact that by fusing together the virtual and the real, we would sacrifice the “real” world as we know it. Yes, the internet is amazing and beautiful, but I also love my ability to move between worlds, I love the joy of experiencing each world as unadulterated and complete; because I love both of them. I like that there’s a place where I can be whomever I want to be, wherever I want to be. I love the anonymity and the community and the adventure and the infinite possibility of the cyber-realm. But I also love finding who I am and who I want to be and molding myself into that person. I love holding books in my hands and climbing real trees and fencing people in person. I love hugging people and talking to people and laughing with people in real life. I love having to work for things. I love having to live. Because as hard as it is to live in this world, it’s just such a great story to tell once you’ve done it.

I don’t know, call me old-fashioned and narrow-minded, but all this transhumanistic, transnaturalistic stuff gives me a serious case of the creeps. I don’t have a problem with the way the world is, I have a problem with what we’ve done to it- and I just don’t feel like we have enough figured out yet to be making even more changes to that. Don’t get me wrong, though, I love the internet- I just want it to stay contained in my little world-box. I love the things we can do, I just don’t want the nature of reality altered just yet.

So there’s my unsolicited two cents on the matter.