Summary

The Metaverse is crashing and people are losing themselves; there is a way out through meditation and self-reflection.

Abstract

The author argues that the Metaverse, as represented by Facebook's Meta, is crashing and people are losing themselves in this digital world. They believed they were staying connected and getting relevant information, but instead, they were exposed to targeted ads and biased information. The article suggests that people can change their relationship with social media and the Metaverse by living their own lives and practicing meditation. The author acknowledges that this might be difficult at first but insists that it's the only way to truly connect with oneself and others.

Opinions

The Metaverse is a destructive platform that is causing people to lose themselves.
People are being manipulated by targeted ads and biased information on social media platforms.

The Metaverse Is Crashing But There Is A Way To Get Out Now

Facebook’s Meta is crashing down. Not just the stock but the platform itself. And maybe it’s the beginning of the end of something bigger and very destructive.

We went there to stay connected and ended up losing ourselves

We thought we were staying in touch with high school friends and family.

Instead, we got ads eerily targeted to something we were looking for online yesterday. We got ads targeted at us based on information we freely offered up.

We thought we were getting news that fit our interests.

Instead, we were funneled to websites and served information that fed into our worst fears. We got opinions disguised as evidence.

In the interest of fun and entertainment, we answered surveys and made comments. We publicly offered personal information, thinking it was for our friends.

We gave ourselves up in exchange for knowing that Cynthia went to Aruba last week and Jennifer had a baby girl.

And to top it all off . . .

We often feel bad when comparing the life of others with our own. The problem is that we aren’t even seeing their life — just the highlights.

What can you do?

You don’t have to leave Facebook. We are addicted to this stuff. But you can change your relationship with it.

Like any drug, you can taper off of it.

But the real problem isn’t Facebook or any social media platform. It’s that you are not comfortable living your own life.

The metaverse is a pretend world where you can go to escape. It’s where Facebook was headed for years.

Facebook started as the world of other peoples’ lives, and it’s transitioning to a fantasy world where you can escape your own.

The two-step solution

This is going to sound radical and maybe a bit ridiculous. But I’ll say it anyway.

Go back and live your own life.

At first, you may find it boring and lonely. You will definitely learn that you are out of practice.

You aren’t used to listening intently to your partner, your mom, or your kids. You may have to get up your courage to pick up the phone or email someone to see how they (really) are.

Step one will be hard, but it will be easier if you do step two.

Go back and look at yourself through meditation. I hope I didn’t just lose you.

If you can’t spend time with yourself, you will never know how to spend time with anyone else.

And the metaverse you’ll enter when you meditate is much more interesting and useful than looking at pictures of someone else’s vacation.

You will be entering the world of your own thoughts. You may find them as disturbing, absurd, and meaningless as all the drivel on social media. You will also realize that they are not real either.

The big difference is this. There is no point in spending time in other peoples’ lives. The meta-view of your own thoughts is useful and can be transformative.

You have to choose which world you want to live in.

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