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Imagine that, just like a video call, you can speak with a virtual version of a deceased person you really liked. And you may feel that they are somewhere else, in some other country. Assume your mother-in-law, who passed away a few years ago, is nagging you on a video call from a virtual space about how you are not taking good care of her son. Or your grandma is happy to inform you about how she is able to fulfil all her desires after death in the virtual world.
You might be wondering how this all makes sense. Right? But the world is evolving, and so are science and technology.
What do you think? How will life after death will look? What if we had the ability to preserve the soul in virtual space? Just like how we are keeping photos, videos, and letters from people who died a long time ago and take out all of them whenever we miss them.
1. Virtual Immortality: A Virtual Life After Death
I think by 2040, due to the advancement of technology, death won’t be something to be afraid of. People might be more excited to face death at that point so that they can do things that they have failed to do in real life or for which they seem to crave the impossible.
Before dying, people will be able to store and upload their minds, creating a file that will be their consciousness after their death. Memories can be stored on a non-destructible drive. Choosing the type of avatar your soul will have and the location in the world where you will live in virtual space. Living the life, you’ve always wanted and doing things you’ve always wanted to do but which were not fulfilled in real life.
Right now, people earn and save money to have a relaxing retirement phase, but by that time, they will save some of their earnings to pay a subscription to access all the facilities in the virtual space. This may seem impractical to you, but if the metaverse is possible, why not a virtual afterlife?
The Wall Street Journal proves this in “Could AI keep people “alive” after death?” that uploading a person’s mind and consciousness into a look-alike robot or creating a digital replica or bot of that person can make them digitally immortal. Many doctors and scientists are trying to find a way to immortality, and when they join their hands with technology companies, things that look impossible take place.
But mind uploading performed on robots may be creepy for many of us. Not only that but charging them and taking care of those robots feels like a fussy thing. And if by chance, any evil person’s mind is uploaded into any robot, then a world where humans are the slaves of robots will come into existence.
The people who invented robots to make big tasks easier would have to work under those human-made machines. Instead, what if a person’s same consciousness is shifted to the simulated digital environment? It will be similar to traveling to a different location, except that only your soul will travel, and your virtual body will be waiting for it in the digital place.
2. Self-Preservation
Just like you book a doctor’s appointment, similarly, you would be able to get an appointment for a lab, maybe known as a “self-preservation lab” or a “reborn virtual lab.” Where doctors would be able to scan your neural networks or synapses, your consciousness would be copied into a virtual world. People will leave behind the concept of heaven and hell; the virtual world will be the place where your soul will travel after death and will get a chance to start fresh in your virtual life.
Till then, when you are alive, you will be able to book sessions in which you will get a chance to make all arrangements for your virtual version, be it your lifestyle, how you look, where your home would be, which car you would like to ride, etc.
In the next 17 years, instead of crying at your funeral, your loved ones may hold a soul transfer ceremony for you. You will be able to join them via video call from your virtual home and give them a house tour through it. Or consider attending your great-great-granddaughter’s first birthday.
Soon, future generations will be able to meet their ancestors, but if you are going to give them lectures about the lives they lived, they might tease you, saying you are just a living digital ghost. Humans can become digital assets for their loved ones after death. Imagine signing a will before death stating who will have financial control over your money so that they can continue to pay your subscription fees, but first, we might have to earn millions.
By 2040, virtual self-preservation will become a necessity because it will be the only way to allow your soul to live a long and happy life without worrying about aging and health-related problems. You might be thinking that with all these benefits, virtual space will become an overpopulated place full of crime, but every problem has a solution. It’s the digital world, and virtual crime patrolling will be possible. If cyber police can exist, then why not virtual cops?
Let’s assume that you are a gangster in the virtual space, and you dislike a man living in your neighborhood who always picks fights with you. One fine morning, you went into his house and shot him dead. What do you think? In this virtual space, your soul has complete control over your virtual body. Yes, it is true, but you’re mistaken, dude.
This crime will soon be reported to virtual cops; they will arrest you, and you will believe that they will simply lock you up. No, no, no, boss, don’t be in that delusion. After arresting you, they will work with the police and the crime department in the real world. They will track your real-world and virtual histories, and if you have a bad record, you are doomed. A few procedures will cause your existence to vanish in the blink of an eye. WOOSH!!! Don’t worry, be a good virtual man, and this won’t happen to you.
3. Is This Virtual World Our New Parallel World?
Parallel worlds coexist with our world and have few similarities, but we do not know whether this parallel universe really exists or whether it is only a myth. But as we see its profound significance, and when we compare the virtual world with it, I think virtual space is a sort of parallel world for us. Locations, human appearance, languages, and many more will be the same as in the real world. But there will be lots of differences; your life would be limitless over there.
You will be able to climb Mt. Everest in a single day because guess what? Your soul will be in a virtual body. You won’t be breathless after walking a few steps, and you won’t get tired. It is all because of the simulated body and the environment. You can jump out of a plane or perform a dangerous stunt without getting hurt or dying. Your virtual body will be just a virtual container for your soul.
The main difference will be to travel between the two universes or to exist in both simultaneously. Even if the parallel universe is a myth or science fiction, we can’t get into it, but in terms of the parallel virtual world, we can.
In 2020, Vive Studios in South Korea tried to reunite a mother with her dead 7-year-old daughter through a VR (virtual reality) headset. Likewise, think vice versa: how about a dead person’s virtual version wearing a VR headset to experience real-life things that he misses in the virtual space?
Do you want to go on a date with your wife, who is irritated that after your death, you have been too busy enjoying your virtual life to spend time with her on a video call?
Don’t worry, all you have to do is wear a VR headset and set the location on it, and ta-da! You are sitting on a beach with your wife, who’s enjoying the sunset while sipping red wine and refreshing your old memories of yours. But unfortunately, you will not be able to have delicious wine or pizza because it will be just your hologram version in the real world. Your actual digital self will be wearing those magical headsets somewhere in the virtual world.
4. Conclusion
Every aspect of this world has pros and cons, and I think this virtual world, which seems to be more fun and exciting, would have a little damage in the real world. Voluntary death rates would increase just because people want to be in the virtual world as soon as possible. But if there will be strict criteria and some terms regarding who will be eligible to enter the virtual world, then it might cause less damage.
But all this would be a point to be discussed later on. We don’t know if the virtual world will become a place after death but given the way technology in this world is developing and inventions like the metaverse has occurred, there’s a 70% chance it will, if not by 2040, then by 2060. It can be a race for the virtual immortality of our souls.
If you like this article then check this also: Will Neuralink Lead To Loss of Humans and Rise in Robots?
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The future is scary