Virtual World Control
What if you could control everything in your life. Would that make you happy?
Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere, What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour, subjecting all things under their feet. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. - Hebrews 2:5-8
Just as God has created the real world for us to experience, we can now create virtual worlds, worlds of our own imagination using software and virtual reality headsets, where we can control the outcomes of our virtual journeys.
We can play God.
It is an intriguing thought, isn't it? To create our own world and immerse ourselves in it lets us participate in our own creation, as one of the characters in our dynamic playground.
As a storyteller, I am fascinated by the potential of this virtual world technology that gives me the ability to manipulate the world to my desire, while enabling anyone who experiences it to choose what to do and where to go in the 3d environment.
Now I am sure most game developers and virtual world storytellers are not thinking of using this technology to bring us closer to God. But given the fact that we are moving ever so much closer to being like God in all we do, from designing worlds to building robots and modifying DNA, the fascination with godliness could be something we tap into in our faith journey.
The very process of designing our own world could be a humbling experience, helping us understand the trust God has in us to make our own decisions in how we interact with one another.
So, maybe the evolution of our spiritual practices needs to embrace the world of technology in a different way than we have been thinking. Rather than focus on large screens in our churches, we should think of ways to build our own worlds where we get to see what it is like to be God.
Scary thought?
I don't know. Which is better, to experiment in a virtual world where no one gets hurt, or to have the experimentation take place in the real world, where there are real consequences?
What do you think?
More to come...