The Less-than-Novel Escapism of the Metaverse

Visions for a future metaverse present perhaps the clearest manifestation of progressivist escapism. Not only the postulated emergence of an alternative digital world is framed as the extension of the fantasy of human dominance and exploitation of the environment but also it represents a fantasy of unlimited agency and fulfilment by simulating any experience imaginable. Moreover, through virtualisation of everything, from assets to dominance and even slavery, the metaverse opens up a quasi-colonial race towards new frontiers of appropriation. In this sense, despite its alleged novelty, the metaverse merely serves to reinvigorate some of the paradigmatic anthropocentric assumptions and principles that have historically been characteristic of Western societies.