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Being at home in the metaverse? Prospectus for a social imaginary

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Abstract

The metaverse has seen growing corporate and popular interest over the past few years. While visions vary, the metaverse is generally seen as an extension of the internet that may be developed through advances in a number of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, as well as new technical infrastructure and standards. The metaverse constitutes an emerging social imaginary, a way of both understanding and directing our shared existence. This paper examines this emerging social imaginary through the phenomenological concept of dwelling, or being at home in the world, as developed by Martin Heidegger. To examine in depth one influential articulation of this social imaginary, this paper focuses on the metaverse as envisioned by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook). The paper presents a thematic analysis of Zuckerberg's public statements regarding the metaverse to provide a close reading of this particular vision. Then, through the lens of Heidegger's philosophy of dwelling, this paper identifies numerous threats to dwelling posed by the metaverse social imaginary. This paper explains these threats and their prognoses, and it closes with some considerations for how the metaverse could be designed to better facilitate human dwelling.

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Notes

  1. The original quote is: “We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.” This quote is often attributed to Marshall McLuhan, but it was actually written by John Culkin. Still, it is certainly in line with Marshal McLuhan's thinking. See https://mcluhangalaxy.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/we-shape-our-tools-and-thereafter-our-tools-shape-us/.

  2. The interested reader can turn to https://dayssincelastfacebookscandal.com, which has chronicled these and other scandals.

  3. On these points, see Taylor [36].

  4. On this point, see Vallor [39], particularly her final chapter, "Knowing What to Wish For" (pp. 230–249).

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers who offered comments on previous versions of this manuscript.

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No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. The author has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. This research did not involve human and/or animal subjects.

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  1. Drexel University, 3675 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Tim Gorichanaz

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Gorichanaz, T. Being at home in the metaverse? Prospectus for a social imaginary. AI Ethics 3, 647–658 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-022-00198-w

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