It was inevitable that the debate involving existence would reach into the expanses of the digital dream world, however the frenetic timeline representing a major paradigm shift for society was unanticipated. The innovators of the dial-up billboards could not have anticipated that manifestations delivered through now antiquated fiber optics would have evolved to a point where egos and personalities would interface with the digital expanse along with emotions in a satellite environment constructed of bytes and pixels in a bizarrely efficient projection of reality immune to the senses.
With social media prevalent as a destination for a proxy existence outside the confines of the flesh and blood, the existential questions highlighting what is tangible, and what is real, has put humanity on the doorstep of common law providing a structure for online behaviors that extends beyond electronic harassment or fraud. As society endures the growing pains of an identity crises in being forced to accept the fantasy of an individual as truth, and placing credence on imagination over fact, the seemingly limitless possibilities afforded by digital expanse will soon render policy and discussion entertaining the idea that a social network profile is a direct physical iteration of a being. Real-life scenarios typed or voiced on a smart device must apply the consequences of decisions and free will afforded by God. While the deliberation of AI individual rights may be a few decades away, Pandora’s box has already been open for the effulgent glistening written word and the narrative of electronic posts humanized to the point of confusion and resulting in a plethora of questions that do not have a simple answer.
Recently, one of the first instance of digital sexual misconduct was reported in the mainstream press, as a woman accused a group of fellow end-users of the inappropriate fondling of her electronic avatar. While there are reports that “verbal” assaults accompanied the brush with pixilation for pixilation, which can be moderated and are subject to community standards of conduct dictated by the site, no context is currently available to accurately describe the extracurricular interlude and the psychological ramifications of what was essentially the manipulation of remote data. The parties witnessing the events leading to the ridiculous indictment, were scattered in segregated locations across the globe, and interconnected through the 3D medium with next-gen devices.
While the decision of the “instigators” to act with gestures that would generally not be tolerated in society, is understandable considering the lack of accountability rides on the burdenless shoulders of zero immediate sanctions. This occurs every nano-second social media, as posters author toxic gibberish for the sole reason simple because they can, and the envelope is continuously pushed, yet users have simply learned to walk away and chalk up an unpleasant encounter to the controversial atmosphere promoted by big tech in exchange for a stifling flow of traffic that funds lucrative empires.
Apparently, the phantom indiscretions occurred on a landing page in virtual reality software galaxy, which has sparked insights from every philosophical avenue in attempting to make sense of just how subjectively interpreted actions and not words involving images can even be quantified as a nefarious or egregious act. Allegedly, the bevy of male account holders on the Meta (the parent company of F***book) platform touched her e-form in uncompromising ways which forced her to swiftly remove her virtual reality goggles, and later claiming she endured profound emotional distress.
Similar to the dubious instance of a woman who identifies as a cat, and pursued a quasi-legal battle for official recognition as a feline, it is at this juncture where innovation succumbs to insanity, as the digital culture and rules of entitlement are in sorry need of shock therapy sessions. Not shockingly, the wayward incident escalated into a PR nightmare for Meta, as the frailty of the collective conscience is encapsulated by a culture of victimhood, which now bleeds into an immersive fantasy world based on binary numbers, rather than the rigors of existence.
Officials of the corporation issued a public apology and pointed to the prevalence of privacy controls, which apparently the woman had not activated, as she was testing the software environment and the equipment. She claims that the encounter has triggered chronic anxiety, which is unbelievable weighing the fact that her physical presence was not even “there” (wherever “there” is?), and she had the opportunity to simply remove the glasses or hit the off switch in terminating the unpleasant experience. While the entire scandal is an indictment of big tech’s greatest invention/greatest curse contribution to the global community, the precedent may have been established that the extension of human personalities and egos can exist in a proxy environment, or at least are both aspects of self are emotionally vulnerable to a habitat that is interchangeable with the vibe and style of a popular video game.
While the vernacular applying common law is perpetually reshuffled, omitted, and regurgitated, and not necessarily in that order, sensibility is strained to a breaking point, as the benign and sobering standard of normal is marred by hysteria. Within the instant gratification corridors and attention span banishment of clicks, swipes, and rapid-fire celerity of undesirable traits involving an evolutionary impasse, the shirking world should be proportional to an expanding mind. Unfortunately, globalization through technology exists as a simple metaphor that is shackled by identity politics rather than a universal affinity for a highly specified digital toolset that fosters ingenuity in the absence of blathering drama.
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