Well all I can say is that I'd feel sorry for the IT guys.
We live in a world where Chinese peasants are farming gold in Azeroth daily for a pittance. Were I to pick one (of many) objections to the idea of this virtual world, it would be that it is not ubiquitously virtual.
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We're the first generation fully capable of virtualizing an environment, and I'm excited about it. I want the world ot be in my control, and I want to be able to have the convenience of my dreams and desires being available. I want to be able to virtualize myself to a beach in Guatamala, and see the rivers of Venice. I can do all of that in a virtual environment without ever having to take a plane or drive to the airport or check my baggage.
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This is a fairly narrowly defined 'generation' I think. What about the current residents of Guatamala in real life? I doubt they would have the resources necessary to jack into a virtual tour of anywhere. We're not talking about a Utopia at all as far as I can see, and I think it is gleefully unfair to even entertain the preposterous idea that this 'virtual construct' somehow
negates reality. Certainly, for all who enter it, there is an
escape from reality, but there is a very clear and distinct difference, escape means you left something behind.
Indeed, I cannot think of a more cogent illustration of the fact that a 'virtual world' is still part of the 'real world' than the fate of the countless Chinese WOW gold farmers who spend 12 hours a day in Azeroth farming gold to sell on Ebay.
You say that this virtual world will be free from nationalism, racism, sexism and everything else. This is a moot point frankly, but how trivial it is when clearly these very real problems will not be solved. Will Nigeria suddenly become a beacon of peace and harmony on account of this virtual world? We wouldn't have a Utopia, we'd have a Elitist Enclave.
Some of what you are saying I think is profoundly important, for instance this:
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It promotes global dissemination of ideas, and truly creates a HUMAN knowledgebase rather than country-by-country. Academics would love this.
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But I think this is true enough of the TFP as it is of your morbidly escapist world.
Sure I desperately want to see an end to the horrorid little arbitray 'isms' that are in the world today, but I want to see them actually ended rather than have a pair of elaborate rose coloured glasses. Make no mistake, the internet,
is in the world, and it has such potential for great change,
in so far as it serves that world of which it is a part.
Using the internet to coordinate outreach groups - fine.
Using the internet as a latter day opium den - no dice.
We're all in the real world, even if we cocoon ourselves inside a virtual one within it. The real world is rife with everything you have said and moreso, poverty, hatred, death, exploitation and disease. I cannot see your post as anything other than a happy acceptance of a permanent, ubiquitous anaesthetic.
What does real life have to offer? Real life is where you can make a real difference to real problems. To gleefully embrace a wholly virtual life is to toss aside the precious gift of human agency for a trite facade of an existence which I do not hesitate to call despicable.