Dystopias, the consequences of the alternated Utopia

Losing your grasp of the reality

Definition Dystopia: relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice. “the dystopian future of a society bereft of reason

Spending every hour of your day inside the alternated utopia, will eventually come to its own consequences. The movie Ready Player One shows it perfectly. Their “home” has become the “stacks” which only gets worse and worse due to no one caring about the real world anymore. From being a perfectly fine world, their real world utopia became a dystopian due to the technology that provided them with a dream like utopia, which gives the results of not caring about the real world anymore and losing their grasp of the reality.

Privacy issues

Having the utopia in an alternated reality, does come with risks. Since technology never can be trusted to 100%, even though they promise to keep all your private information protected – it will never be guaranteed safe. In the movie, it showcases how the “bad guys” in the movie managed to gather Wade Watts (main character) in real life private information in the alternated reality, which later caused extreme difficulties for him. Since Wade was the top contender in the main event in the OASIS, the bad guys tracked him down and tried killing him and his family in the real world after being able to gather his private information, through the internets most complex cyber security system.

Here is the scene that was described earlier, where the bad guys (IOI) tracked down Wade Watts real life information of his living location, real life name and all the private information possible available of a human being. In this scene, his aunt and her boyfriend who picked up the phone call from Wade, got killed by IOI while they primarily thought that Wade was inside his home in order to get rid of him from the contest in the “digital Utopia”.

Images showcasing how the digital world can cause us to forget that we live in an utopia today, but the digital world can take that away and make us forget it immediately, and makes us forget about the real world which can result in making it a dystopian.

How an Utopia can become a Dystopia, by a “non existent” Utopia.


Why fix a leaky faucet in the real world when you could conquer a digital dragon and feel as if it was real? The lines between the pixelated perfection of the OASIS and the real life blurred. Meals became hurried affairs, mere refueling stops between virtual adventures. Sleep became a non important, a thief of precious time that could be spent soaring through neon-drenched cityscapes.

Social interactions began to atrophy. Why fumble through awkward conversations when you could forge effortless friendships with perfectly compatible avatars across the globe where you do not need to show your true feelings?
Sure, here’s a simpler version of the sentence:
The noise of the Stacks, like creaky pipes and kids playing in the hallways, used to feel like a sign of life. Now, it just annoyed them compared to the perfectly peaceful social circles they built in the OASIS.

The education system crumbled as well. Who needed dusty textbooks when you could learn anything from the comfort of your haptic gear, guided by holographic tutors in fantastical settings? But this immersive learning came at a cost. Critical thinking skills dulled, replaced by an insatiable hunger for instant gratification. Spending all their time in the perfect world of the OASIS made it harder for people to tell the truth from lies in the real world

The erosion of social skills and critical thinking had a domino effect. Talking about politics became a mess of people shouting without facts. The OASIS, with its stories designed to make you feel a certain way, made it easy for people to be fooled. Civic participation dwindled as people prioritized virtual achievements over real-world responsibilities. The very systems meant to maintain the crumbling infrastructure of the Stacks were neglected, leading to further decay.

The OASIS, the escape of their problems, had become a gilded cage. It offered escape at the cost of engagement, a playground where real-world problems festered, ignored beneath a shimmering veil of digital fantasy. The utopia had become a dystopia, a world where the lines between reality and escape had blurred beyond recognition, leaving humanity trapped in a beautiful nightmare of its own making.

Conclusion


Right now, our reality might not seem perfect. We might grumble about our commutes, the state of politics, or the ever-growing pile of bills. But here’s the thing – these imperfections ground us. They remind us that the world is a work in progress, a place that needs our constant attention and improvement.
Now, imagine a VR world – the Oasis 2.0, if you will – that offers the “amazing” escape. In this utopia of pixels, you can conquer mountains, solve puzzles alongside historical figures, or even build your own virtual empire. It’s a world meticulously crafted to fulfill every desire, a world where limitations are a thing of the past.

Here’s the danger. As we spend more and more time in this flawless virtual world, our perception of reality starts to shift. The chipped paint in your apartment starts to seem quaint compared to the perfectly rendered castles of the Oasis. The real world, with its messiness and imperfections, begins to feel dull, a pale imitation of the virtual paradise.

This distorted perception breeds apathy. Why fix a leaky faucet when you can build a virtual palace? Why fight for social change when you can be a hero in a pre-programmed adventure? Slowly, the real world, with its very real problems, starts to fade into the background.
Here’s the twist: Our world, with all its flaws, is actually the utopia. It’s a place where we can make a difference, a place where love, connection, and progress are real and tangible. The virtual world, for all its beauty, is an illusion. It can’t replace the human connection, the sense of purpose, or the genuine satisfaction that comes from making our real world a little bit better.
The challenge lies in striking a balance. The digital world can be an amazing tool for learning, entertainment, and even connection. But we must remember it’s a tool, not a replacement. We must cherish the imperfections of our reality because within those imperfections lies the power to create a truly better world, a world that doesn’t need to be escaped from, but a world worth fighting for. The people is a big factor when it comes to creating an utopia. And sometimes accepting where your are, is more than enough to feel like you are living in an utopia.

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