Before the Second Coming… is the First Coming of the METAVERSE

When I was much younger, I loved playing video games. I am not much of a huge gamer now but growing up in the 90s, I loved a good game of NBA Jam, Mario Brothers, Crash Bandicoot, or even Sonic the Hedgehog, just to name a few. Wait… I can’t forget the ultimate favourite Mike Tyson Punch-Out! The thrill I would get from playing the game and winning games and the idea that I could become a character in another whole new world fascinated me. I would leave my personal human world for a few moments and enter a digital on-screen space that allowed me to travel through the television screen.

When the game was done, I would often sit wondering how in the world was I able to play in a different digital on-screen world? Were those characters real? Were they part of another reality, a virtual reality, perhaps? Were those characters stuck in some type of distant parallel universe?

As a teen growing up back then, when you think of those particular questions of simulated reality, it would be considered more of a type of science fiction or something, but in actuality, those were not far fetched ideas by any standards today.

In 2021, they have games that mirror or replicate a type of simulated reality or augmented reality that appears real lifelike, as if you are actually in the game.

Why do I bring all this talk about gaming, augmented reality, and virtual reality? Are we still not in a global pandemic? Well, that’s the point; the pandemic has escalated and sped up the engagement and acceptance, and advancement of normalizing virtual reality.

Philosopher and author Nick Bostrom coined the term "Simulation Hypothesis." He asked the question, are we living in a computer simulation? This question seems almost absurd but just think for a moment, are we all living in a giant computer game where our minds are the processing unit, where we are all interconnected to the universe, a type of subjective reality from a metaphysical perspective. Well, even if you don't believe that right now, a more technologically advanced reality is coming a new way of life.

It’s called the metaverse. The metaverse is "a collective of virtual shared spaced created by the convergence of visually enhanced physical reality, and physical persistence shared space."

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is working on this new world. This new world will be a digital landscape fueled by virtual reality and augmented reality. It is the internet 3.0 or better known as the internet 3D version.

In the metaverse, we will all have VR headsets in which we connect to the internet in 3D, but instead of it just being used for gaming purposes, it will be a part of our daily life, like going to school, going to work, going to church and social functions and events. In the metaverse, we will go shopping virtually through a three-dimensional smart screen and hang out with friends, and visit libraries, all from our digital headset. Right now, you can virtually try on clothing without physically going into the store's dressing room. A simple example of augmented reality would be the Pokémon go craze that happened several years ago.

You could use your phone and capture Pokémon digitally yet in the physical world, all through an app. Other games like decentral land allow you to create avatars that maneuver a digital, doing fun things like attending concerts, music festivals, or social events. Platforms like Gather Town have that same feel, but the metaverse will be way more advanced.

The metaverse essentially allows people worldwide to connect and interact online in a completely decentralized, interconnected digital environment.

I know it looks pretty futuristic and far fetched, but creators and experts say that we will be living in a whole new world and ecosystem called the metaverse within the next five years. And when you think of it, with the global pandemic, and remote working and learning, the old world is crumbling, and a new world is emerging.

We see the signs of the times, wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, and man's heart waxing colder and colder. The second coming of Jesus seems not too far off, but in the meantime, the ushering in of the first coming of the metaverse is nearly here. Indeed the lines between the physical world and the real world continue to become very blurry.

Typically, we have connected with the internet with 2D screens from a computer or smart device, but soon those products will be rendered old school.

Everyone will be wearing fashionable AR glasses that allow you to connect to the metaverse while walking down the street.

Who knows, maybe the next time I see you, we will be attending church, camp meetings, or even the General Conference session. Will we be meeting in the metaverse, standing in our living rooms with our induvial VR Headsets on?

By Dr. Lyle Notice - Youth Director Alberta Conference