Now, Hyperreality…
…can’t be boring.
A world of simulation is around the corner.
Hello my friends,
Welcome back to another post on the “Now this… Can’t be boring” series. In this series I present a company, concept, or startup idea on the daily then break it down, give my two cents, and leave some food for thought for you, my reader.
I’m here to talk business, technology, disruption, cool stuff, and crazy shit. My hypothesises is: If there are so many great things happening as we speak and not enough light is shone on them, then someone should.
To address that, my business partner and I have decided to “Build in Public” and make it central to our startup, so we’ll be sharing what we read, like, invest in, build, and how we work. Building shit is hard and we want to make sure we keep ourselves accountable to each other and to you, our consumer, reader, listener, and like-minded tribe member.
Time to get into the grub!
What’s on call for today?
The topic is one and only one: Hyperreality.
“If you assume any rate of improvement at all, then games will be indistinguishable from reality, or civilisation will end. One of those two things will occur. Therefore, we are most likely in a simulation, because we exist.”
— Elon Musk on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Year 2050. The world has accelerated at a tremendous pace. The energy problem? We solved it. Flying cars? I bet you were looking down as you flew your way to work. Oh, and that “take humans to Mars” project? I just came back from visiting my family back in Colony 03. Crazy to think of it, right? A future where all these things and more can and will be a reality.
What would our day-to-day look like? I mean, will our lives be integrated to technology so seamlessly that it becomes an extension of ourselves? Will intergalactic travel be a norm and a multi-planetary habitation the extent to which we as humans evolve. Will we be so smart and so capable that we are able to colonise an entire galaxy and that our technologies allow for that kind of multi-planetary connectivity? When these thoughts come to mind, it’s hard to not become envious of the thought that we may not be here to live that. There are people at the moment who are setting the base for that future.
Now look at your day-to-day life and how technology has been created to become a necessity rather than a commodity. Notice how we carry pieces of tech in our hands to make sure we are part of the world. New technologies are being created to feed the God complex we all suffer to an extent. The idea of living a life online and one offline is currently a dichotomy, but with time this will be in unison. Technology will transcend the barriers of distinction and technological singularity at a mental and habitual level will have been conceived. Will we live a digitally and virtually augmented reality? What will that look like?
Here’s my take:
Bing! A message pops up at waist-height, you look down and it reads “Down for poker tonight?” “Sure, I’m down. What time and where?” you speak out, as your message is transcribed in front of your eyes. “Message sent!” You’re strolling through the buzzy streets of Tokyo, looking around you at the digital signs flashing in-front of stores. You walk past Nike, an interactive hologram of a man in technical sportswear looks over at you as he runs in place testing the new Nike FlyZoom Pro. They look comfy and sleek, you think to yourself. Bing! Ben says: “Oli’s place, 8 pm. Don’t be late. We’ll order Ramen beforehand.” You scroll with your fingers through the quick reply options below his message and select the “Thumbs up” emoji. “Message sent” reads a simulated speech bubble.
You look up and call out for your Uber app “Uber, I need a ride home.” Instantly, a voice speaks through the built-in sound conductors of your Neuralink, “Your Uber driver is on it’s way! ETA: 5 min.” You look around and notice Nike’s simulated carrousel ad — “Just do it!”. “I can’t believe they still market that”, you think to yourself. “Your Uber driver has arrived” the voice speaks to you. A holographic red circle surrounds your Uber’s chassis on the ground and you get in the car. “Expected ride duration of 12 min. Estimated cost of 0,0001 BTC” the voice says. A reminder thought bubble pulls up on your top right periphery of the article that you glanced at this morning which read “Bitcoin tops $264.000 reaching a total market cap of $5 trillion.”
You look around you as you drive. “The city looks beautiful” you think to yourself which prompts you to check out your map to see where your friends are at. “Open Map” you think to yourself which triggers Neuralink’s inductors to display an interactive map of Tokyo before you. You rotate it with your hand and flick your fingers to move to different areas. A fluorescent light beams from a building, “Ah! Looks like Beto’s having some people over cause he has his notify activity on.” You zoom in with your fingers and see the names of a few people you don’t know floating in the bright blue fluorescent gas. You click on Beto’s name, “Notify Beto I’m on my way” you say. “I’ve notified Beto and he confirmed” replies your virtual assistant. “Uber, change course to the selected address”. Your unmanned vehicle emits an agreement chime, “Destination Updated” says your VA, “Expected ride duration +3 min. Estimated cost of 0,00011 BTC.” You’re on your way.
How was that for a ride? Welcome back to reality. Look around you, check your phone, look at your watch, grab your remote, turn on your TV, open your messaging app, and call your Mom. You’ve just returned to the Neo-stone age and its year 2021. Facebook is still spying and ripping your data, Elon Musk just turned the richest man in the world, and it’s time to grab my car and physically drive to a shop for a coffee. Ugh, the pain of being a mere human.
On that note, I leave you with my take on the future:
The future of humanity on planet Earth will be a connected future and an augmented future. Everything you need and don’t need is at your immediate command and accessibility. Life as you know it ceases to exist and you become a bi-dimensional being, you become a homo spatium.
That said, let’s wrap it up.
Here’s an update on Neuralink’s advancements.
Ciao, my friends.
FM
