Exodus to the Virtual World
Anyone who sees a hurricane coming should warn others. I see a hurricane coming.
Over the next generation or two, ever larger numbers of people, hundreds of millions, will become immersed in virtual worlds and online games. While we are playing, things we used to do on the outside, in “reality,” won’t be happening anymore, or won’t be happening in the same way. You can’t pull millions of person-hours out of a society without creating an atmospheric-level event.
If it happens in a generation, I think the twenty-first century will see a social cataclysm larger than that caused by cars, radios, and TV, combined. . . . The exodus of these people from the real world, from our normal daily life, will create a change in social climate that makes global warming look like a tempest in a teacup.
Notes:
People are leaving the real world for the virtual. This will impact society in unanticipated ways.
Folksonomies: virtual reality gaming
Taxonomies:
/science/weather/meteorological disaster/hurricane (0.632456)
/society (0.631629)
/religion and spirituality/judaism (0.447205)
Keywords:
real world (0.920999 (negative:-0.580559)), Virtual World People (0.888220 (negative:-0.580559)), normal daily life (0.879588 (neutral:0.000000)), unanticipated ways (0.721799 (neutral:0.000000)), online games (0.690848 (positive:0.310701)), atmospheric-level event (0.679132 (positive:0.253929)), social cataclysm (0.675353 (negative:-0.226556)), global warming (0.670393 (negative:-0.229813)), social climate (0.645148 (negative:-0.229813)), exodus (0.574172 (negative:-0.515668)), millions (0.565365 (neutral:0.000000)), hurricane (0.549985 (negative:-0.606484)), society (0.521519 (neutral:0.000000)), generation (0.517929 (neutral:0.000000)), teacup (0.481049 (negative:-0.487569)), tempest (0.467714 (negative:-0.487569)), worlds (0.461623 (positive:0.310701)), hundreds (0.460605 (neutral:0.000000)), reality (0.460101 (neutral:0.000000)), numbers (0.459159 (neutral:0.000000)), things (0.458669 (neutral:0.000000)), radios (0.456548 (neutral:0.000000)), century (0.452468 (negative:-0.226556)), cars (0.451839 (neutral:0.000000))
Entities:
Virtual World:FieldTerminology (0.968658 (negative:-0.580559)), global warming:FieldTerminology (0.648747 (negative:-0.229813))
Concepts:
Global warming (0.963321): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Virtual reality (0.871580): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Universe (0.854573): dbpedia | freebase
Earth (0.822133): dbpedia | freebase
21st century (0.786319): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Simulated reality (0.762053): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Massively multiplayer online game (0.740242): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Star Trek: The Next Generation (0.719892): website | dbpedia | freebase
Exodus to the Virtual World