A Metaverse Pioneer Warns that the Metaverse Can Be Misused
Brian Schuster recently spoke with Daily Mail and warns that the metaverse can be used to manipulate people for the benefit of the manipulators. Brian has been in the metaverse for 17 years and has created his own digital world which he called Utherverse. According to Brian, the new digital world can be used to brainwash whole populations and basically put them under the control of a ‘puppet master.’ He said this to DailyMail.com in a phone interview.
He added that he doesn’t believe that Facebook will ever come to the conclusion that they can sacrifice money for the benefit and longevity of humans. In his words, the money comes when people are happy or angry, so people will have to choose which path they want to go down
Zuckerberg once described the metaverse as ‘the successor to the mobile internet,’ a set of virtual spaces where you can game, work and communicate with other people who are not in the same physical space as you. What this means is that people will spend more time in the virtual world than the real world. A typical day will look like waking up, putting on the headset and sitting there for more time than we spend with the headset off – interacting, shopping, going on dates, working and going to school in the virtual world. The Meta CEO has also made claims that humanity will eventually move into his metaverse, leaving their reality behind for a new world that they control.
Schuster warns that nothing is random. Everything is algorithmically generated by computers and he noted that what Facebook does with algorithms is visible to the blind. One may think he is meeting the love of his life in the metaverse, but that would actually be Zuck deciding who the ‘metaverse citizen’ is matched with.
You may grow up hearing one line of opinion because the computer system figures out it will make the most profit. The concern is that there is a full immersive brainwashing capability of the metaverse. Shuster also notes that it is not just Zuckerberg that has a skin in the game, but anyone who will put profits over people. Shuster does not only fear that the metaverse has the ability of brainwashing people (if in the wrong hands) but he notes that it could create generations of isolated people.
Hongkongers Hope that Metaverse and NFTs Will Usher in the ‘Octopus Moment’ in Hong-Kong.
The Octopus card became the most notable hi-tech application in Hong Kong when it was first launched in September 1997. It became a symbol of what could be accomplished in a city with world-class infrastructure, the rule of law, business-friendly policies and an expanding pool of skilled talent. It was broadly accepted as a contactless smart card to extend its use from the city’s public transport network to the retail sector, tolled tunnels, parking facilities, schools, and even for access control in residential and commercial buildings. About 30.4 million Octopus cards were in circulation across the city as of December 31, 2020.
For the past twenty five (25) years, Hongkongers are still believing that another “Octopus moment” would occur in Hong Kong. Sadly, the realization of this hope and belief seems to be far from reach. Achieving this hope has recently been complicated by a series of disruptive events: the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, the US-China trade war, the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions imposed under the city’s “dynamic zero-Covid-19” policy, an economic slowdown and a brain drain amid a recent wave of emigration.
According to Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, a major video gaming and venture capital firm based in Cyberport, there have been some exciting innovations in Hong Kong’s tech sector. Industries related to the metaverse and Web3, including NFTs [non-fungible tokens], have been taking off during the last couple of pandemic years. Many new start-ups have emerged in this space, in areas such as play-to-earn, virtual real estate and esports. Siu said all these to the South China Morning Post.
There are expectations that, with the way NFTs and the metaverse are growing, Hong Kong may soon see another ‘Octopus moment’ before the end of the decade. Whether or not this will come to pass, we can only wait for time to tell us.