Virtual Space’s Greatest Creation—Homo Sapiens
Worldwide instantaneous communication, access to the world’s information, social networks, online commerce, and fascinating new forms of entertainment are not virtual space's most important creation; Homo Sapiens are.?
Two million years ago, evolution provided hominids with virtual space. Virtual space facilitated their survival and improved the quality of their lives.?Then, 300,000 years ago, homo sapiens emerged in Africa and went on to become the world’s most dominant species.?Home sapiens would not exist today were it not for virtual space.
A Brief History of Virtual Space
In what follows, I want to provide you with a deeper understanding of virtual space.?I will explain the important differences between the virtual space evolution created that I will refer to as virtual space and the New Virtual Space developed by technologists twenty years ago.?I will trace the path of human evolution through virtual space.?I will show you why we are we are maladapted to the New Virtual Space and suffer from impaired consciousness when we inhabit it.?I will outline the serious implications this has for our mental health and suggest how to deal with the challenge on a personal basis.?
If I am successful, I will convince you not to sell your mental health for 5 cents an hour in free services by permitting internet providers to command your attention.?
Physical space is three dimensional, boundless in extent, and contains objects made up of atoms and electromagnetic fields like light waves, and time.
Virtual space is created by our perception of physical space. As humans, we consciously experience physical space through information taken in through our senses, sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.?Our brains and minds organize, interpret, and create images of what our senses perceive.
As I will later explain, the colors we see and the sounds we hear do not exist in physical space.?Physical objects reflect electromagnetic waves that brains perceive as colors.?Vibrating objects create air pulses.?Our brains perceive those pulses as sounds.
We often refer to experiences taking place virtual space as virtual reality.?Virtual reality is “A computer simulation of a real or imaginary system that enables a user to perform operations on the simulated system and shows the effects in real time.”
Just as physical space is composed of numerous objects, virtual space often contains numerous virtual reality experiences.
There are two virtual spaces of concern to us.?The first was created by evolution two million years ago.?The second, the New Virtual Space, was invented by technologists twenty years ago.?In the case of the New Virtual Space, we interpose an intelligent device between physical space and our senses, or we create activities on the intelligent device that we feed to our senses.?When we inhabit the New Virtual Space, we are perceiving the world through an intelligent device.???
The two virtual spaces differ in significant ways.?The original virtual space’s goal was to ensure the survival of our species.?The primary goal of the controllers of New Virtual Space is to monetize its residents.?The betterment of humanity is of lesser concern.?
The New Virtual Space is aggressively competing with the old and is rapidly displacing it. So, humans are now moving en masse from a space focused exclusively to improving the human condition to one that benefits from exploiting it.?
Another way the two spaces differ is that we are psychologically maladapted to New Virtual Space and our consciousness is impaired while in it.?
In the past 20 years, five billion of us have moved large portions of our lives to this New Virtual Space in the biggest social experiment ever conducted by mankind.?We have little understanding of how this transition will affect our brains, minds, and mental health.
Studies have found that heavy users of social media were more likely so suffer from depression.?Other studies by psychologists point to things like increasing levels of narcissism, social media contributing to drug use, and that super connected children are maturing more slowly and are less happy.[i] ,[ii] ,[iii] The New Virtual Space fosters other personality disorders as well.
Making "Sense" of it All
If a tree falls in the wilderness and there is no one there to hear it, it does not make a sound.?If a perfume bottle is open and there is no one nearby to smell it, it has no scent.?If no one is in an art gallery, the paintings have no colors.
Sounds, scents, and colors are only there if they are being observed.?They do not exist in the physical world.?Scientists tell us they are creations of our senses and brains.
When a tree falls it creates air pulses we call sound waves.?When those pulses impact the ear drum they cause the three ear bones, called the malleus, incus and stapes to vibrate. These vibrations are sent to the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure filled with fluid, in the inner ear where hair cells convert the fluid energy into electrical signals that are carried by the auditory nerve to the brain.?The brain creates the sound we hear.[iv] ?
The reality in physical space are air pulses and the perception in virtual space is sound.?The sensors and biological analog computers inserted between the ear drum and the brain are operating on a physical signal, but these could be replaced by a digital computer that could send an electrical signal to our brain.?I am sure if we did that, most would feel comfortable describing it as a virtual reality experience.
When we open a perfume bottle, vapors are emitted.?In a process similar to that described for hearing, our olfactory system creates a pleasant smell.?The reality is a vapor and the perception is a smell.?
Our vision system senses the wavelength of light reflected by the object we are observing, not its color.?Those wavelengths impinge on the cone cells in our retina that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light.?If one is observing a lemon, adjacent red and green cones are activated.?There are no yellow cones.?Our brain processes those signals coming from adjacent cones.?It does not present us with red and green dots.?Amazingly, it creates the color yellow in our brain.[v]
The way humans make and use tools sets our species apart.?Tools played an important role in shaping our evolutionary path from homo erectus to homo sapiens.?
Virtual reality makes tool use possible.?Spatial perception, the awareness of your physical relationship to the environment, is a virtual reality experience.?It depends on exteroceptive and proprioceptive processes.?The exteroceptive processes depend on our vision and enable us to understand the external environment. The proprioceptive ones gather information from our muscles and joints and enable us to determine the positions of our body in space.?For example, where our hands are relative to a tool.?
In order to be able to effectively use a screwdriver, hammer, or knife, we have to be able to get our hands on the tool handles. Virtual reality makes this possible.
Without the virtual reality that made tool use possible, homo sapiens might never have survived.
In the physical world, there is no music or language, only sound waves created by pulsating air.?Our brains create the perception of music and language.?
Think of this amazing virtual reality experience.?A human reads sheet music and plays a violin, a simulation of the notes on paper, that creates pulses of air from which our brains and senses generate the perception of music.???
When we speak, our vocal cords vibrate and create air pulses—sound waves.?Our ears sense those pressure changes and the inner ear converts those vibrations into electrical signals that travel through the cochlear nerve system to the cerebral cortex.?The brain processes those electrical signals and turns them into the words we hear.
...And Then There Was Language
Language is a simulation of pulses of air created by our senses and brain.?Pulses of air are turned into words by a virtual reality transformation.?
Once evolution created language, a lot of things happened that were very similar to the expanded capabilities provided to mankind by the New Virtual Space.
Language enabled humans to organize communities to solve complex problems such as how to build irrigation systems to water crops.?Language made it possible to send complex messages and made it possible for primitive people to learn from neighboring tribes about what was happening around them. Since most of what affected any group were local events, it was in effect providing access to the world’s relevant knowledge.?
Language also provided new forms of entertainment. People could tell stories.?The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey, the story of Odysseus’s journey home, were originally told by storytellers before they became texts.
Tools and language enabled mankind to survive and become the world’s dominant species.?
You have lived in virtual space since the day you were born.?As an object you inhabit physical space but as a sentient human being you conduct your everyday life in virtual space.?You have become so adapted virtual space, you think it is real.??
Enter the New Virtual Space
We are now aggressively moving to the New Virtual Space for which we are maladapted.?
Consider the fact that the average American spends a little over 13 hours per day on activities that must be confined to the physical world like sleeping, eating, physical work (washing dishes, taking care of children and elders, etc.), and 11 hours a per day working, in leisure activities such as socializing, being entertained, and exercise--all activities that can move or be impacted by the New Virtual Space.[vi] ?
What is remarkable is that over 50% of the average American’s non physically related activities have already been committed to virtual space.?It is easy to envision that number climbing to over 75% in the years to come as existing applications are improved, virtual headsets create ever more realistic experiences, work out routines connect to virtual environments, and our bodies become adorned with Internet of Things devices.
I am certain that many individuals will spend 100% of their available time in virtual space in the future.
If an individual spends 75% of his or her available time, possibly 100%, in an environment to which they are maladapted, there is good reason to suspect that it will have serious behavioral, mental, and emotional consequences.?An extreme example of the types of things that can happen is the psychological and behavioral damage done by confining prisoners to solitary confinement, an environment to which humans are maladapted.
Studies show the lack of human contact and sensory deprivation associated with solitary confinement can lead to depression and semi-permanent changes to the brain.?One study showed inmates assigned to solitary confinement were almost seven times more likely to engage in self-harm after leaving confinement, doing unimaginable things like jumping off beds headfirst.[vii] ?Solitary confinement has also been linked to hypertension and migraines.[viii]
The solitary confinement experience suggests we should be cautious when we enter new environments that change the way we interact with others and deprive our senses of important information.
We're Not Ready for the New Virtual Space
We will now explore our psychological maladaptation to the New Virtual Space and the sensory deprivation we experience.?A good place to start is internet addiction.
The internet is a psychologically addictive environment.?People derive great pleasure from searching for and discovering fascinating information and enjoyable virtual experiences on the internet. ?The controllers of the internet have invested heavily in building the addictive environment to keep users engaged so they can monetize their behavior by doing things like delivering advertising content to targeted audiences.
All pleasurable experience, we now know, is accompanied by the signature release in our brains of the chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Thanks in large part to research done into drug and gambling addiction, we have a much better understanding of the relationship between pleasure and dopamine release than we used to. We know now that the brain perceives all pleasures in a similar?way, whether those pleasures originate with a cash reward, a line of cocaine, or the victory bells of a slot machine.
Internet addiction motivates families to ignore one another while checking the email and Facebook at dinner, to text while driving in heavy traffic, encourages fourteen-year-old girls to take their phones to bed to keep up with the 14,000 text message some hyperconnected ones receive per month, and some players of multiplayer online role playing games to go without food while glued to gaming consoles.
OneUpPhoenix, a devoted gamer, claimed in 2012 that he had played World of Warcraft for 19,032 hours or the equivalent of working for 40 hours per week for almost ten years.[ix]
Internet addiction plays a key role in keeping users engaged with social networking sites like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook that foster the growth of narcissism, depression, and drug use.
With one billion active users, Instagram is riding high.[x] All of the beautiful people post there, and if you are not perfect, there are numerous photo editing tools the less beautiful can use to turn themselves into viable competitors.[xi] ?A study by the Royal Society for Public Health rated Instagram the number one social app for causing depression in young people.[xii] ?
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Instagram offers pleasant surprises and “likes” so it appeals to pleasure seekers in search of dopamine hits.?FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out, drives users to go there to make sure they know what is going on so they can attend important events and purchase trendy items. It is a great place for narcissists to strut their stuff.?So, users come for the fun and to make sure they won’t miss out.?
Unfortunately, they find themselves competing with the perfect or the patched up perfect and others who are always front and center in the right places.?They frequently end up with feelings of anxiety, insecurity, loneliness, and depression.?
I had no sooner written these words than Olympic Champion, Simon Biles, announced her withdrawal on July 27, 2021 from the women’s team gymnastics to focus on her mental health.?The next day CNN published an article talking about a number of other athletes that were abandoning social media for mental health reasons.?Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten abandoned social media to preserve her mental state after her heartbreaking silver medal in the women's road race.[xiii] ?
The New Virtual Space encourages antisocial behavior.?As a result, society is being plagued by fake news, conspiracy theories, and polarization. ?Near zero cost one-to-many communications targeted communications greatly facilitates antisocial activities.?The anonymity made possible when engaging in things like harassment and cyberbullying make it safe to participate in those activities. The business model of the internet makes it profitable to do things such as spreading fake news.?
Individuals with dissocial personality disorder spread fake news to disturb the politico- religious harmony of society without experiencing any guilty feelings. Those affected with narcissistic personality disorder tend to make and share fake news in order to establish their authority in society, showing their elated self-esteem, as part of their excessive need for admiration by others or hoping to achieve power, success and intellectual supremacy.[xiv]
Spreading fake news is also profitable turning antisocial activity into a good business for some.?
The Infowars site had 25 million visits in August of 2018.[xv] It is estimated that the business, owned by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, generated on the order of $10 million in revenue from subscriptions, advertising, and sales of dietary supplements. The key to making this model work is engaging content distributed at almost zero cost, advertising, and an extremely low-cost business structure.?
The messaging platform Telegram has 400 million active users.[xvi] Many of its affiliates such as conspiracy theorist, Lin Wood, base their businesses on its service.?It is one of the more popular services used by those who spread conspiracy theories. Zero cost one-to-many communications powered by the Telegram system helps its conspiracy theorists earn money.
What Happens to Us In The New Virtual Space?
The New Virtual Space increases our susceptibility to anxiety, insecurity, loneliness, and depression. Spending a great deal of time in the space increases the chances we will become narcissistic and engage in antisocial behavior.?We are psychologically maladapted to the New Virtual Space.
When we venture into the New Virtual Space, we suffer from sensory deprivation.?We are semiconscious in the sense that our awareness is severely impaired.?Frequently we are in a state “in which more than ordinary stimulation may be required to evoke a response, and the response may be delayed or incomplete”—the medical definition of semiconsciousness.[xvii]
Drivers staring at iPhones in heavy traffic frequently need a horn blast, more than ordinary stimulation, to get them to move back into their lane—sometimes too late—a delayed response.?By clicking on YouTube, you can watch a semiconscious woman texting while walking and falling headfirst into a fountain at a shopping mall.
You cannot be conscious of what you cannot sense. The senses of taste, smell, and touch are non-existent in virtual space.?Our senses of hearing and sight are severely impaired.?We do not see the whole environment, only the portion that is selectively presented on the screen.?We only hear the things the controllers of the virtual environment enable us to hear.?When someone dominates a Zoom discussion, they do not hear the sighs of relief when they stop talking—verbal clues that would encourage a conscious individual to change their behavior.
Eye contact is severely impaired in the New Virtual Space. Touching and smell, important components in building trusting and loving relationships, do not exist.?
Warm eye contact, a fond touch, and pleasant smells frequently trigger dopamine and oxytocin releases in our brains. Dopamine releases build trust between individuals.?Oxytocin, sometimes referred as the love hormone, stimulates pro-social behaviors.[xviii]
Man’s best friend, the dog, skillfully uses eye contact, touch, and smell to build his relationship with his owner.?Those features are not available to him in the New Virtual Space.?That is the reason why dogs do not use the internet when they are making best friends.
Dogs have a lot to teach us about how to relate to one another.?
When personal relationships move to the New Virtual Space, they suffer from sensory deprivation, especially loving ones.
?Among the reasons why we are maladapted to the New Virtual space is sensory deprivation and the fact that we are at times semiconscious.
Most of us have experienced tiredness, fatigue, and sometimes exhaustion after attending a long Zoom meeting with groups of people. Once again, the reason is maladaptation.?Research at the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab explains why.[xix]
There are numerous reasons.?Listeners who tend to feel everyone is staring at them suffer some of the same anxieties public speakers do when the audience stares at them.?At times, full screen faces appear larger than real life.?This can be threatening because you feel that person is in your personal space.?Seeing yourself while talking can make you feel like someone is following you around with a mirror.?As Bailenson, one of the researchers points out, “there’s lots of research showing that there are negative emotional consequences to seeing yourself in a mirror.”
This is just another example of our maladaptation to the New Virtual Space.
Managing the New Virtual Space
The first homo sapiens evolved in Africa.?They migrated and went on to inhabit many hostile environments to which they were maladapted.?They invented tools like warm clothing and housing to shield them from the harsh environmental of cold climates. They used fire and irrigation techniques to manage the environmental effects. They did this to take advantage of the benefits offered by these new environments.
The New Virtual Space offers miraculous benefits to mankind.?Unfortunately, we are maladapted to the environment.?If we are going to experience its benefits and avoid many of its harmful consequences, we must shield ourselves from its effects and manage the environment just as homo sapiens have done for tens of thousands of years when they migrated to the cold northern latitudes.
Evolution’s virtual space and the New Virtual Space both provided better communication, increased access to information, and new forms of entertainment.?In the past, evolution’s virtual space made human survival possible and enriched our lives. The New Virtual Space will benefit human survival in the future and enrich our lives as well.
But there are two key differences between the spaces.?The first is that evolution’s virtual space was completely committed to one goal, human survival.?The New Virtual Space’s primary goal is the monetization of humanity. Human survival is of lesser concern.
The second is that we are psychologically maladapted to and are significantly less sentient in the New Virtual Space.
Therefore, in order to benefit from the New Virtual Space, we have to manage it.?If we do not, the Space will manage us, and we will suffer severe psychological consequences.
You have all heard what I have said before but now you have clear insights as to the reasons why from a psychological and consciousness point of view.?
Manage your time on the internet and especially the time spent on social networks. Think through where you want to travel on the internet rather than blindly following the suggestion of recommendation engines and letting the internet manage you. Use the internet to enhance relationships you maintain in the physical world. Create barriers.?Do not sleep with your iPhone or take it to dinner.?Doing these things to improve the quality of your life and protect your mental health.?
Many of us are selling our attention and consequently our mental health to social media sites to get access to the free services they provide.?Those sites turn your attention into products they sell advertisers.?In 2021 they will generate about $150 in advertising revenue per user.[xx] ?That comes out to about 5 cents per user hour.
The job market may be very tough right now but there are still lots of good jobs available.?Seek gainful employment.?Join the battle against maladaptation.?Quit your low paying five cents an hour job. Take a job managing your interaction with the New Virtual Space. Your families, loved ones, and your mental health need you. I bet they will pay you more than five cents an hour if you do.
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[iii] https://www.yourtango.com/2018311566/signs-narcissism-and-how-instagram-turning-you-narcissist
[xiii] https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/28/sport/ariarne-titmus-annemiek-van-vleuten-social-media-mental-health-simone-biles-tokyo-2020-spt-intl/index.html