About This Seed
This image, inspired by the short story Scott’s Fifth Year has a particularly personal meaning for me because I’m in recovery from alcoholism myself. Addiction and escapism certainly didn’t begin with virtual reality. Humans have been finding ways to alter how we feel, avoid pain, quiet our thoughts, or temporarily escape our circumstances for about as long as we've been human.
What interests and concerns me about VR is how perfectly it could eventually satisfy that desire to escape. Scott isn't simply playing a game. Look at the room around him compared with the world glowing on the screen. His real life is deteriorating, but instead of confronting it, he has somewhere better to go. As that escape becomes more immersive and personalized, returning to reality becomes increasingly difficult.
Alcohol and drugs can change how reality feels. Advanced VR could potentially offer an entirely different reality, one where you're successful, loved, attractive, wealthy, powerful, or simply happy. Add AI capable of learning exactly what keeps you engaged, and I wonder whether we're creating a form of addiction escapism unlike anything we've encountered before.
Maybe most people will use it without a problem, just as most people who drink don't become alcoholics.
Maybe.
But what happens to those of us who are particularly good at running away?
I'd really like to hear your thoughts, whether addiction has touched your life or you simply see something different in the image. Join the discussion, challenge my interpretation, or create a new Seed inspired by where this idea takes you. ~ Rick