Navigating the Metaverse, Nature and the Digital Future with Chris Morasky — WildFed Podcast #124

Today's guest is Chris Morasky, and when it comes to off-grid, primitive living, this guy has put in the dirt time. He's also something of an existentialist philosopher, and our conversation today takes place at what we see as a pivotal moment in human history. Where do we — lovers of the natural world — fit into an increasingly fast-paced, distracted, digital and, dare we say, artificial world? We know it's on our minds, and we're guessing it's on yours too. After all, we don't imagine we'll be hunting and gathering wild foods in the metaverse, or experiencing the rich and meaningful relationships and experiences we currently get to curate here on the… well… natural earth. Barring the catastrophic or unforeseeable, we are headed for an increasingly artificial experience of reality. We choose that word, "artificial," carefully. It shares a common root with the word artifact, and of course, the word art itself. Meaning shaped by human will or human hands, it stands in contrast to the word "natural" — something that has not been shaped by human will or human hands. The metaverse, as it has come to be called, or the various forms of augmented reality that have been proposed, all take us further from the natural experience into the artificial. That's not a value statement, just an observation of reality. These worlds, digital extensions of our built environment, unlike the kind of "hybrid" world we inhabit now — made of both the natural and artificial — will be purely the work of human imagination. For those with a more transhumanist leaning, this is the ultimate dream fulfilled. Like the singularity itself, the idea of a metaverse is a kind of technotopia. But for many of us who love nature, and particularly for those of us who draw resources directly from nature, i.e. hunters and gatherers, it's a kind of nightmare scenario, a techno dystopia. But, it's unfolding before our very eyes and with no signs of slowing down. To the contrary, it's speeding up. So, how do we navigate this rapidly approaching world. How do we relate to it, stay sane, and stay connected to the natural world? That's the question that's on our minds, in this conversation with Chris Morasky. View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/124