{"id":199290,"date":"2021-11-15T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=199290"},"modified":"2021-11-12T04:41:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T04:41:59","slug":"science-fiction-has-become-fact-the-metaverse-is-big-brother-in-disguise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/11\/science-fiction-has-become-fact-the-metaverse-is-big-brother-in-disguise\/","title":{"rendered":"Science Fiction Has Become Fact: The Metaverse Is \u201cBig Brother in Disguise\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Freedom Meted Out by Technological Tyrants<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe term\u00a0metaverse<\/em>, like the term\u00a0meritocracy<\/em>, was coined in a sci fi dystopia novel written as cautionary tale<\/a>. Then techies took metaverse, and technocrats took meritocracy, and enthusiastically adopted what was meant to inspire horror.\u201d \u2014Antonio Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

9 Nov 2021 – <\/em>Welcome to the Matrix (i.e. the metaverse<\/a>), where reality is virtual<\/a>, freedom is only as free as one\u2019s technological overlords allow, and artificial intelligence is slowly rendering humanity unnecessary, inferior and obsolete.<\/p>\n

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, sees this digital universe\u2014the metaverse\u2014as the next step in our evolutionary transformation<\/a> from a human-driven society to a technological one.<\/p>\n

Yet while Zuckerberg\u2019s vision for this digital frontier has been met with a certain degree of skepticism, the truth\u2014as journalist Antonio Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez concludes\u2014is that we\u2019re already living in the metaverse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The metaverse is, in turn, a dystopian meritocracy, where freedom is a conditional construct based on one\u2019s worthiness and compliance.<\/p>\n

In a meritocracy, rights are privileges, afforded to those who have earned them. There can be no tolerance for independence or individuality in a meritocracy, where political correctness is formalized, legalized and institutionalized. Likewise, there can be no true freedom when the ability to express oneself, move about, engage in commerce and function in society is predicated on the extent to which you\u2019re willing to \u201cfit in.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are almost at that stage now.<\/p>\n

Consider that in our present virtue-signaling world where fascism disguises itself as tolerance, the only way to enjoy even a semblance of freedom is by opting to voluntarily censor yourself, comply, conform and march in lockstep with whatever prevailing views dominate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fail to do so\u2014by daring to espouse \u201cdangerous\u201d ideas or support unpopular political movements\u2014and you will find yourself shut out of commerce, employment, and society: Facebook will ban you, Twitter will shut you down, Instagram will de-platform you, and your employer will issue ultimatums that force you to choose between your so-called freedoms and economic survival.<\/p>\n

This is exactly how Corporate America plans to groom us for a world in which \u201cwe the people\u201d are unthinking, unresistant, slavishly obedient automatons in bondage to a Deep State policed by computer algorithms.<\/p>\n

Science fiction has become fact.<\/p>\n

Twenty-some years after the Wachowskis\u2019 iconic film, The Matrix<\/em>, introduced us to a futuristic world in which humans exist in a computer-simulated non-reality powered by authoritarian machines<\/a>\u2014a world where the choice between existing in a denial-ridden virtual dream-state or facing up to the harsh, difficult realities of life comes down to a blue pill or a red pill\u2014we stand at the precipice of a technologically-dominated matrix of our own making.<\/p>\n

We are living the prequel to The Matrix<\/em> with each passing day, falling further under the spell of technologically-driven virtual communities, virtual realities and virtual conveniences managed by artificially intelligent machines that are on a fast track to replacing human beings and eventually dominating every aspect of our lives.<\/p>\n

In The Matrix<\/em>, computer programmer Thomas Anderson a.k.a. hacker Neo is wakened from a virtual slumber by Morpheus<\/a>, a freedom fighter seeking to liberate humanity from a lifelong hibernation state imposed by hyper-advanced artificial intelligence machines that rely on humans as an organic power source. With their minds plugged into a perfectly crafted virtual reality, few humans ever realize they are living in an artificial dream world.<\/p>\n

Neo is given a choice: to take the red pill, wake up and join the resistance, or take the blue pill, remain asleep and serve as fodder for the powers-that-be.<\/p>\n

Most people opt for the blue pill.<\/p>\n

In our case, the blue pill\u2014a one-way ticket to a life sentence in an electronic concentration camp\u2014has been honey-coated to hide the bitter aftertaste, sold to us in the name of expediency and delivered by way of blazingly fast Internet, cell phone signals that never drop a call, thermostats that keep us at the perfect temperature without our having to raise a finger, and entertainment that can be simultaneously streamed to our TVs, tablets and cell phones.<\/p>\n

Yet we are not merely in thrall with these technologies that were intended to make our lives easier. We have become enslaved by them.<\/p>\n

Look around you. Everywhere you turn, people are so addicted to their internet-connected screen devices\u2014smart phones, tablets, computers, televisions\u2014that they can go for hours at a time submerged in a virtual world where human interaction is filtered through the medium of technology.<\/p>\n

This is not freedom. This is not even progress.<\/p>\n

This is technological tyranny and iron-fisted control delivered by way of the surveillance state, corporate giants such as Google and Facebook, and government spy agencies such as the National Security Agency.<\/p>\n

So consumed are we with availing ourselves of all the latest technologies that we have spared barely a thought for the ramifications of our heedless, headlong stumble towards a world in which our abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos is grooming us for a future in which freedom is an illusion.<\/p>\n

Yet it\u2019s not just freedom that hangs in the balance. Humanity itself is on the line.<\/p>\n

If ever Americans find themselves in bondage to technological tyrants, we will have only ourselves to blame for having forged the chains through our own lassitude, laziness and abject reliance on internet-connected gadgets and gizmos that render us wholly irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Indeed, we\u2019re fast approaching Philip K. Dick\u2019s vision of the future as depicted in the film Minority Report<\/em><\/a>. There, police agencies apprehend criminals before they can commit a crime, driverless cars populate the highways, and a person\u2019s biometrics are constantly scanned and used to track their movements, target them for advertising, and keep them under perpetual surveillance.<\/p>\n

Cue the dawning of the Age of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which internet-connected \u201cthings\u201d monitor your home, your health and your habits in order to keep your pantry stocked, your utilities regulated and your life under control and relatively worry-free.<\/p>\n

The key word here, however, is control<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the not-too-distant future, \u201cjust about every device you have\u2014and even products like chairs, that you don\u2019t normally expect to see technology in\u2014will be connected and talking to each other<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of 2018, \u201cthere were an estimated 22 billion internet of things connected devices in use around the world\u2026 Forecasts suggest that by 2030 around 50 billion of these IoT devices will be in use around the world, creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the technologies powering these devices have become increasingly sophisticated, they have also become increasingly widespread, encompassing everything from toothbrushes and lightbulbs to cars, smart meters and medical equipment.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that 127 new IoT devices are connected to the web every second<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This \u201cconnected\u201d industry has become the next big societal transformation, right up there with the Industrial Revolution<\/a>, a watershed moment in technology and culture.<\/p>\n

Between driverless cars that completely lacking a steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pedal, and smart pills embedded with computer chips, sensors, cameras and robots, we are poised to outpace the imaginations of science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov. (By the way, there is no such thing as a driverless car. Someone or something will be driving, but it won\u2019t be you.)<\/p>\n

These Internet-connected techno gadgets include smart light bulbs<\/a> that discourage burglars by making your house look occupied, smart thermostats<\/a> that regulate the temperature of your home based on your activities, and smart doorbells<\/a> that let you see who is at your front door without leaving the comfort of your couch.<\/p>\n

Nest, Google\u2019s suite of smart home products, has been at the forefront of the \u201cconnected\u201d industry, with such technologically savvy conveniences<\/a> as a smart lock that tells your thermostat who is home, what temperatures they like, and when your home is unoccupied; a home phone service system that interacts with your connected devices to \u201clearn when you come and go\u201d and alert you if your kids don\u2019t come home; and a sleep system that will monitor when you fall asleep, when you wake up, and keep the house noises and temperature in a sleep-conducive state.<\/p>\n

The aim of these internet-connected devices, as Nest proclaims, is to make \u201cyour house a more thoughtful and conscious home<\/a>.\u201d For example, your car can signal ahead that you\u2019re on your way home, while Hue lights can flash on and off to get your attention if Nest Protect senses something\u2019s wrong. Your coffeemaker, relying on data from fitness and sleep sensors, will brew a stronger pot of coffee<\/a> for you if you\u2019ve had a restless night.<\/p>\n

Yet given the speed and trajectory at which these technologies are developing, it won\u2019t be long before these devices are operating entirely independent of their human creators, which poses a whole new set of worries. As technology expert Nicholas Carr notes<\/a>, \u201cAs soon as you allow robots, or software programs, to act freely in the world, they\u2019re going to run up against ethically fraught situations and face hard choices that can\u2019t be resolved through statistical models. That will be true of self-driving cars, self-flying drones, and battlefield robots, just as it\u2019s already true, on a lesser scale, with automated vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For instance, just as the robotic vacuum, Roomba, \u201cmakes no distinction between a dust bunny and an insect<\/a>,\u201d weaponized drones will be incapable of distinguishing between a fleeing criminal and someone merely jogging down a street. For that matter, how do you defend yourself against a robotic cop\u2014such as the Atlas android being developed by the Pentagon<\/a>\u2014that has been programmed to respond to any perceived threat with violence?<\/p>\n

Moreover, it\u2019s not just our homes and personal devices that are being reordered and reimagined in this connected age: it\u2019s our workplaces, our health systems, our government, our bodies and our innermost thoughts that are being plugged into a matrix over which we have no real control.<\/p>\n

It is expected that by 2030, we will all experience The Internet of Senses (IoS), enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 5G, and automation. The Internet of Senses relies on connected technology interacting with our senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch by way of the brain as the user interface. As journalist Susan Fourtane explains:<\/p>\n

Many predict that by 2030, the lines between thinking<\/em> and doing<\/em> will blur<\/a>. Fifty-nine percent of consumers believe that we will be able to see map routes on VR glasses by simply thinking of a destination\u2026 By 2030, technology is set to respond to our thoughts, and even share them with others\u2026 Using the brain as an interface could mean the end of keyboards, mice, game controllers, and ultimately user interfaces for any digital device. The user needs to only think about the commands, and they will just happen. Smartphones could even function without touch screens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the IoS will rely on technology being able to access and act on your thoughts.<\/p>\n

Fourtane outlines several trends related to the IoS<\/a> that are expected to become a reality by 2030:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Thoughts become action<\/a>: using the brain as the interface, for example, users will be able to see map routes on VR glasses by simply thinking of a destination.<\/li>\n
  2. Sounds will become an extension of the devised virtual reality: users could mimic anyone’s voice realistically enough to fool even family members.<\/li>\n
  3. Real food will become secondary to imagined tastes. A sensory device for your mouth could digitally enhance anything you eat, so that any food can taste like your favorite treat.<\/li>\n
  4. Smells will become a projection of this virtual reality so that virtual visits, to forests or the countryside for instance, would include experiencing all the natural smells of those places.<\/li>\n
  5. Total touch: Smartphones with screens will convey the shape and texture of the digital icons and buttons they are pressing.<\/li>\n
  6. Merged reality: VR game worlds will become indistinguishable from physical reality by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the metaverse, wrapped up in the siren-song of convenience and sold to us as the secret to success, entertainment and happiness.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a false promise, a wicked trap to snare us, with a single objective: total control.<\/p>\n

    George Orwell understood this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Orwell\u2019s masterpiece, 1984<\/em>,\u00a0portrays a global society of total control in which people are not allowed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom, and advanced technology has become the driving force behind a surveillance-driven society. Snitches and cameras are everywhere. And people are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of thought crimes. The government, or \u201cParty,\u201d is headed by Big Brother, who appears on posters everywhere with the words: \u201cBig Brother is watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n

    As I make clear in my book\u00a0Battlefield America: The War on the American People<\/em><\/a> and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries<\/em><\/a>, total control over every aspect of our lives, right down to our inner thoughts, is the objective of any totalitarian regime.<\/p>\n

    The Metaverse is just Big Brother in disguise.<\/p>\n

    ___________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a> John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. His concern for the persecuted and oppressed led him, in 1982, to establish The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization. Whitehead’s aggressive, pioneering approach to civil liberties issues has earned him numerous accolades, including the Hungarian Medal of Freedom. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper, magazine and television profiles, ranging from <\/em>Gentleman’s Quarterly to<\/em> CBS’ 60 Minutes. Articles by Whitehead have been printed in <\/em>The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and<\/em> USA Today, among others.<\/em> Whitehead\u2019s commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Go to Original \u2013 rutherford.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    9 Nov 2021 – Freedom Meted Out by Technological Tyrants – Welcome to the Matrix (i.e. the metaverse), where reality is virtual, freedom is only as free as one\u2019s technological overlords allow, and artificial intelligence is slowly rendering humanity unnecessary, inferior and obsolete. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":199292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[910,1007,2502,2689,2166,2165],"class_list":["post-199290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-big-brother","tag-facebook","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-metaverse","tag-reality","tag-virtual-reality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}