@Talia_christine VR is easier, honestly

@Talia_christine I’m not optimistic

@Talia_christine

I preach this every day.

The only way to make actually reality suck less is for people to be a part of their community IRL and to stop believing that virtual communities are equal substitutes.

@Talia_christine No money in making actual reality suck less compared to the money in distracting you from how much it sucks :D

@Talia_christine I think a major factor in how crummy life in the US is, is precisely that lots of rich people are spending lots of time trying to figure out how to make actual reality suck so much that they can charge you a small monthly fee to have it suck a little less.

@Talia_christine where is the share holder value in that?

@Talia_christine your advice to billionaires. 🙏

@Talia_christine

But it's Apple! They finally pioneered VR the right way. By charging $3k for the set.

@Talia_christine what do you mean?

@Talia_christine I can't wait to literally feel my incomplete tasks closing in around me in the comfort of my own home.

@Talia_christine It’s literally The Oasis. 🫠

@Talia_christine sounds hard

@Talia_christine
To do that we must terminate #capitalism
@alontra

@Talia_christine Your comment reminds me of the Australian YouTuber John Cadogan who has an Aussie take on the MAGA hat. His cap reads MALS - Make Australia Less Shit

@Talia_christine
Agreed, and while we're at it, beware of AI.

@Talia_christine

Yes

@Talia_christine People make reality suck. People will make virtual reality suck too. Making things suck is what people do best.

@Talia_christine not profitable enough. What can you do? Profit is the only motive. I am very smart.

@Talia_christine Couldn't agree more!

@Talia_christine ready player one? 🙂

@Talia_christine We've done too much damage. Reality isn't coming back. Best we can do now is to build magnificent machines that can help keep us in denial.

@Talia_christine "introducing the next VR simulation, Reality 2.0, just as sucky as actual reality but in the comfort of your own home"

@Talia_christine Both!

""actual"" reality is probably never going to give me a body that fits.

@Talia_christine A question that seems to have evaded *literally everyone* pissing their knickers on this story.

@Talia_christine @donni This times a billion.

@Talia_christine
People who want to work on VR imagine that all the problems are going to be nice clean technical problems with technical solutions, instead of the shitstorm of ill-defined social, political and economic problems real life has.

How comforting.
How naive.

As soon as *people* are using it, all the hard problems in how people use it are going to be the ill-defined social, political and economic ones anyway.

@Talia_christine You could make the same point on AI, cuz it’s not really like we’ve perfected Human Intelligence.

@Talia_christine @meganisalanis
😃👍

@Talia_christine@mstdn.social Talked with a friend about Apples new headset yesterday. We thought about what such a thing would need to be to be properly mainstream ready. And one thing we stumbled upon was the modification of public places for everyone using it. I.e. displaying rich information and what not there. But continuing that we also got to dystopian thoughts for where it would basically clean up reality for you. I.e. make train stations look clean and even more more fucked up things.

@Talia_christine Using virtual reality lets you try out lots of scenarios quickly and cheaply that you can use to improve meatspace reality better.

@Talia_christine
While we are on a rant. I want to make Intelligence better, instead of investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially since AI has already learned to lie.

@Talia_christine That's too difficult. People can't even come to an agreement wether it sucks or blows 😜

@Talia_christine
Along with AI, VR is part the current apogee of abstract thinking. It’s a product of the same forces that created cryptocurrencies, part of the mechanism designed to disassociate cause from effect. A way to maximise consumption without seeing the consequences on the world. I think we need to do more than shift focus, we need to change how we look at everything.

@Talia_christine The same for artificial intelligence, let's make human intelligence moreso.

@Talia_christine I mean, isn't this just the 21st Century version of instead of focusing on the afterlife maybe we should work on making this life suck less?
VR is the opiate of the 21st century masses?

@Talia_christine Well, I like playing against Zombies in VR, but I probably wouldn't enjoy that in reality...

@Talia_christine
But that doesn't earn billions of money.

@Talia_christine

I mean, yes but Zuckerborg is a sociopath

@Talia_christine
Welcome to the Matrix.

@Talia_christine @LoganFive

I thought that the other day, reading a post musing upon the distant future of the universe. Can we think about the immediate future of this precious little planet first, please?

@Talia_christine it’s less profitable, unfortunately.

@Talia_christine I would have preferred an Apple Bike. But hey, they’ve got a few $, there’s still hope.

@Talia_christine

Escapism takes many shapes. The funny thing about reality is: In the end it always wins.

@Talia_christine anyone capable of appreciating that suggestion, would never be able to get in the position to make such a decision.

@Talia_christine Investors wouldn't feel that it's as hyped as the Metaverse, unfortunately. 🤷🏽‍♂️

@Talia_christine but if reality sucked less, who would buy the $3500 Vision Pro!?!?

@Talia_christine It is ok to have both.

@Talia_christine Ready Player One is waiting for us.

@Talia_christine

@Talia_christine @susankitchens

Ah, now you're just being silly...

@Talia_christine Using AR/VR instead of solving the source of problems. Classic science fiction plot. #AppleOculus