NOT MY FIRST METAVERSE
Very Interesting|May/June 2022
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might be getting excited about the metaverse, but the idea is nothing new
ALEKS KROTOSKI
NOT MY FIRST METAVERSE

You may have heard the word ‘metaverse’ recently, perhaps for the first time. The big tech companies are propelling it forward with vigorous press releases and starry-eyed hot takes bordering on the messianic.

Briefly, a metaverse is a virtual reality that exists in a layer above the physical, and yet reflects and replicates the things that we need for society to function: economies, hierarchies, judicial systems, and so on. In other words, it’s what we do now, only online with avatars, VR headsets and augmented reality. Perhaps the reason I didn’t see it coming is very simple.

This story is from the May/June 2022 edition of Very Interesting.

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