A conversation at Consensus 2022 between two visionaries Neal Stephenson and Jaron Lanier about how they envisioned the metaverse and VR. Moderator: Leah Callon-Butler, Director, Emfarsis
FYI Neal. the reason i was approached to make Snow Crash "real" in 92. was that i was, yes. 3d guy in NYC. but i was also the advertising agency/ shopping store design guy. And what paramount guy thought was that snowcrash was about shopping & advertising in vr. ;) beyond the action adventure ;)
Neal has some good insights - that distopias are an easy (cheap) narrative device is super on point - but overall his worldview seems kind of... basic?
The tools for hunting/gathering food/water, creating shelter & fire come before entertainment & the leisure time necessary for one to need the musical instrument. This by nature means a tool that can be used as a weapon will develop 1st.
As an aside what they dont seem to understand is that a star trek type future may be a utopia to them but getting there would require making a dystopia for others & worse. You cant convince everyone which only leaves manipulation &/or force as well as removing freedoms & freewill at the very least.
