Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg’s plans for the ‘metaverse’ have been criticised as “pure escapism” by Jesuit priest Fr Kevin O’Higgins.
Facebook’s Mr Zuckerberg recently announced his company’s rebranding as ‘Meta’ which he described as more in-line with their plans and focus on building the ‘metaverse’.
The metaverse is envisioned as a breakthrough of the internet into the physical world, through the technologies of augmented and virtual reality.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Fr O’Higgins said “everybody knows the bottom line is profit”.
“I think whether it’s himself or Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, they’re constantly presenting their projects as humanitarian, as if all of this was out of the generosity of their heart. The fact is that it’s all about profit.”
Fr O’Higgins noted that there are other concerning aspects other than the “profit” motive, saying that it’s “no coincidence” that the rebranding move comes as Facebook faces increased scrutiny in the US over its effects on the mental health of young people.
However, Fr O’Higgins said the biggest problem is the “pure escapism” behind the “ploy”.
“It’s pure escapism. The other thing I think that’s interesting is the choice of name. ‘Meta’ has connotations of metaphysics – it’s almost a religious connotation. It’s almost trying to elevate this whole idea of virtual reality onto a religious plane. It becomes a new faith.
“I would imagine they took it from the Greek, the Greek has the same root as words like, ‘metaphysics’ – it literally means ‘beyond the physical’.
“It’s trying to turn this whole thing into a new, cyber-age spirituality, semi-religious thing. But it’ll be the world created by the Zuckerbergs and his successors,” Fr O’Higgins said.
Such escapism is “clearly a distraction from the real world problems,” Fr O’Higgins said, continuing, “it’s a cynical way again of making an apparent gesture, but in fact it’s meaningless in the light of the kind of money that they’re raking in”.