Humans are interesting creatures. Individually, we are relatively large animals. Each one of us having the strength to overpower our larger threats, and shape the world around us. While this provides us with a good foundation, we are also social animals.

Over generation to generation we have created our own layer of reality on top of the one in which we live. A social construct, a network on top of our own individual network. Each style of network has existed in competition with its neighbors, and over the course of our human existence the superior networks have spread their ideas to allow for us to live in ways impossible as individuals.

Each network is a set of concepts. Composed of language, symbols, categories of thing and thought. The thing and thought itself shape our understanding of reality, inside each of our own personal networks we employ a mathematical concept of sparse coding; the creation of our own vector space of understanding. Distillation of broad concepts to a single point, which can be mathematically evaluated against other points to discern the distance of meaning.

Our minds are shaped by this understanding, and our understanding is shaped by our shared experience. Each of our own personal existence is passed down through genetics and imprinting of our examples as provided by those we observe. Some of this observation is good, building mental models that are in harmony with reality; God, society, and experience matching existence. Some are poor, leaving bad models. Models that damage others, hate our creator, self, or being alive.

The paradox now lies in that with no bad models, no contrast between bad and good can exist. A shallow construct, unable to allow for real differentiation. Unable to have profound experience. All the emotions between one and the next are bounded by our genetic-hormonal reality, but the experience and depth of understanding restricted by the limited perspective.

Our modern age has broken the walls of prior existence. One may say that the most profound of exploration is now done from the privacy of one’s own quarters. Others say that interfacing with existence is required for a true understanding. The truth is, in all things balance is required.

While not forgetting that humans do exist in creation, and thus must explore creation; such perceived experience does limit the categories of understanding to that which is observed. The greater potential of human thought is limited. While danger does lie in building a social existence that is incompatible with reality, the bounds of art and human creation have the potential to manifest new and wonderful things. New structures that can exist, but have not henceforth had models available that allowed them to come into reality.

The risk of this reality we enter in to; the meta-verse we shall say; is that we have no models of contrast to draw from. Science fiction becomes science fact, we have our ground but little figure from which to understand. When we only have the history of man, how can we know what the mix of man with his enhanced self will bring. Another utopian genocide? An abandonment of principles that have allowed for the coexistence of cultures besides others? A raising of a new tower of thought, hybrid, to overthrow creation itself?

The rewards and risks, always in balance. The game is not zero-sum, but there are winners and losers. We see the direction of thought in the rise of our new Art, idolized superheroes, fantasy, departure from the doldrums of limited human reality. Some, many, strive to have this fantasy be their reality. A human thought contagion that will either manifest in new existence or escapism.

That being said, there are a lot of very interesting concepts and categories explored in this new medium. I have been watching Legion and Wheel of Time this last week, and can appreciate the value they bring to our cultural dialog. We truly sit at the dawn of a new age, and I pray that God has mercy on us all; to lead us into light and not darkness.