Lately I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about virtual environments and experiences. One friend pointed out that flying to Africa and going on a safari there had a tremendous negative impact on the environment, and wonderful safari videos were available online, so why not just watch those instead? I constantly see ads on streaming video showing all the “virtual worlds” people can create for themselves on the internet, and showcasing all the benefits of doctors being able to “see” inside a virtual replica of a human body to learn and diagnose. And then, of course, there are all those AI applications, which can be viewed as virtual writers, editor, artists, programmers, and so forth. (Don’t get me started on “customer support” AI helpers.)
We seem to be evolving into a world that is created by software or recorded from the past rather than a world that is immediate and natural. Is this incredible or horrific? Most of the time, I just can’t make up my mind.
You see, I’m a Nature lover and very much a fan of celebrating the present and being there to actually see, touch, hear, and feel all things real. I don’t even listen to music or ebooks while out walking because I want to hear the birds and the rustle of leaves in the trees. My Sam Westin Wilderness Series and my Neema the Signing Gorilla series are very much reality based. I find the idea that virtual reality or recordings from the past could replace real-time experiences very disconcerting. If nobody ever encounters an elephant or a ptarmigan or a dolphin in real life, will anyone care about saving them? For me, watching a video never inspires the wonder and delight that experiencing nature does.
On the other hand, we all know that our planet is likely to become a very different place in the future. Today, there are already too many humans crowding the wildlife out of their environments, and more humans are born every minute. People will likely need to make severe compromises to keep our planet habitable. This probably means that in the future, fewer people will have the amazing experiences I’ve had scuba diving, hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, traveling, etc., and they will probably rarely encounter any sort of wildlife except for insects. But at least they will be able to have virtual encounters of all sorts.
In my younger years, I and many of my peers wished we had the holodeck pictured in the Star Trek series. In the holodeck, a person could create any sort of environment she or he wanted, have any sort of experience that was desired. But in the television show, the holodeck provided a great escape because the starship crew could not step explore space and time without the aid of software. Is this our future? Should we celebrate it? The changes seem inevitable. Will the next generations feel deprived or enriched? I do love movies and nature documentaries, and I suppose that reading might be considered a “virtual experience,” and I definitely support all of those.
Personally, I’m glad I won’t live forever. Tomorrow, I’m going hiking in the mountains, and I hope to see mountain goats and ptarmigans as well as beautiful scenery. I will kayak on the weekend and watch for harbor porpoises and many types of water birds. And in December, I will fly to Tanzania to encounter a wide variety of exotic animal species in person, and feel only slightly guilty for increasing my carbon footprint. I chose not to have children, and I do many things to help save the planet now, but I can never give up real experiences in my lifetime.
Ladies of Mystery 
I’m with you. I prefer to experience things in person.
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