Magick and VR
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Let me play the devils advocate.
A few things come to mind, so prepare for the rant.
If we are talking about some sort of super charged visual environment, such as better VR goggles or 3D TV, I'm not impressed. It might be 'easier' to operate in a digitally generated, custom designed environment, but it cannot be argued that we do not do that already, just not as prettily: Da Vinci's studies of birds in flight are just as powerful at producing sympathetic neuro-muscular responses in a viewer as are the current crop of 3D movies. And this is generally the case with almost all of the technological advances of the last thirty years or so. All the technology really enabled was the possibility of doing many things very fast with mathematical precision, things we were already doing, and have done for thousands years. For example, the functional concept behind how email works was already being used to deliver messages all over the world before we had any kind of wireless communication or the network of semi-independent computers called the internet. The British Navy had a packet mail delivery routine that is functionally identical with email, just a lot slower.
Real revolutions don't happen just because we can produce better hyper-realistic pictures faster, no matter how novel the medium. And there are costs. It was meant as a joke, but South Parks' spoof on World of WarCraft referenced some pretty dark realities. I have yet to meet a hardcore gamer that wasn't unhealthy or on their way to becoming unhealthy.
When folks wax poetic about the possibilities I can't help suspecting they are so upbeat because they are imagining how much easier it will be someday. But if you remove hard work from the equation of spiritual development you have removed one of the most historically important justifications for doing the work, confrontation with your own demons and resistances as a way to learn about, and ultimately master yourself. I just can't visualize a scenario where technology of any stripe will ever be able to provide this.
Admittedly, there will always be a place for the technologically useful devices, like word processors. In Adobe Photoshop I built my very own interactive Tree of Life diagram that allows me to turn on and off different levels of symbolism and associations, including the color schemes in the four worlds. But I must stress that I did the work, and I probably put in as much time and effort as anyone who has done something similar in pen, ink, and paint.
I was just listening to NPR earlier toady about a study in England where they correlated the time spent by toddlers and children watching TV to learning disabilities, and problems socializing. Why shouldn't we expect the inevitable development and distribution of VR to increase these problems?
I use a lot of technology in my work—video, complex programming and sequencing protocols, real-time media sampling and composition strategies—but my attitude regards the technology is not about celebrating all the cool toys. On the contrary, I try to present the technology in a naked way so people wake up to how technology affects their lives. Sure, some really cool things are on the horizon, but doesn't it make sense to be more than a little concerned with how we are going to survive all these cool things once they arrive?
A bit of a wet blanket...
...maybe someone will have a few positive thoughts on the topic to balance my innate pessimism.Robert
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@Frater Aster Lux said
"The future of technology is Virtual Reality.
Every day people spend countless hours staring at a television, or computer. Playing video games, or taking in media that allows them to exist in an imaginary space and pretend for a while that they are anybody, can do anything, or can have any experience. A lot of time can be wasted blowing away aliens and terrorist, or by vicariously watching people on TV at their lowest.
The ability to provide people with a more authentic experience will be greatly aided in the future by the advance of technology. Most people are familiar with the movie The Matrix, and although it paints a rather pessimistic picture of virtual reality, it makes you wonder about how convinced our brain could eventually be by a machine, that we are actually experiencing an alternate reality.
This will be the future of video games, and other forms of home entertainment. It will change the internet as we know it (and pornography as we know it). As soon as the technology is there, and the materials are able to be reproduced on a mass scale and at a low cost, we will see some form of Virtual Reality Pod/Producer in every one's home!
I can't say how far in the future this could be, but it is my hope that we will have evolved beyond the desire to pursue such frivolous forms of entertainment by the time we think about it seriously. I mention this because I wonder what kinds of applications Virtual Reality has for magick, and the expansion of consciousness in general. Imagine being able to construct a kind of Virtual Temple with interchangeable elements that suited your ever need!
It's hard to speculate just what form this technology could take. Perhaps you could connect to a computer that changes your brainwaves? Or perhaps some room composed of High Definition visuals and interactive holograms? I was originally thinking something like a sensory deprivation tank, but interactive and involving an over stimulus of certain senses rather than a total deprivation. If it were possible to reproduce a similar experience with VR, than it seems like a safe alternative to a lot of the drugs out there that people use to do this.
Combining that kind of experience with a spiritual goal or methodology often produces very phenomenal results. Using computers and specifically mind bending programs/techniques could certainly yield some very amazing results!
Just imagine, a computer program that could generate random visual patterns pulling from a bank of almost endless possibilities. Now imagine using the computer like some digital crystal ball to channel energies and communicate with extra-dimensional beings!
Obviously this is extremely hypothetical, but hopefully it gives a good example of what I mean. The possibilities are endless and so it is hard to say where exactly we will find ourselves with the advent of such technology. I am interested in what other people have to say on the matter."
I remember in the early 90's when virtual reality was new and hip... did you see Lawnmower man?
There was some cooky Christian movie some years back about those "left behind" before the coming of the lord.
The antichrist controlled everyone by giving them a VR set, the implication being his followers were all gods through their VR set in their own VR worlds.....in other words, VR is the devil's tool!
I forgot the name of the movie, but it is hilarious. Guess the author saw a potential for man to develop his will through new technology and immediately recognized the ungodly potential of VR!
I think TIm Leary did some work in VR prior to his passing and wrote about...don't remember..
By the late '90s, VR seemed to be poised to take over the world in some fashion. But something happened and it seemed to all but disappear from the public eye.
I think VR is something that had potential and could have happened...but nothing happened! What is up with the world of VR today?
I think VR in magick is a two edged sword. It may provide stimulation for those who have developed magical skills but it may be used and abused by those who have not. I can see some emo kid using VR to do a ritual and then disregard magick altogether because he did not get any results from it.How specifically can VR assist a magician?
I purchased one of those brain wave machines with fancy LCD goggles and did not get anything out of it. I think the whole brain wave entrainment movement is just snakeoil.
Let me speak no more before I go too off topic.
