Possible Risks of the Metaverse and the Posthuman: The Separation of the Economy and the Money

Abstract

This study examines the reflections of the integration between culture and nature, which is promised in the philosophies of technology, in the context of metaverse and posthuman examples. The dichotomy between culture and nature can lead to many new dichotomies in the contemporary daily life. Especially with the modern period, some dilemmas have emerged between mathematics and humanity, technology and social life, science and religion, social media or metaverse and real life, and money and economy. In order to solve these dilemmas, individualization has been developed in the contemporary period. In fact, 20th century societies are largely individualized and middle-class societies. While individualization promises to solve existing dilemmas, it can lead to increasingly deeper human problems. The most important of these problems is that virtual life, which was invented to assist real human life, has turned into something that suppresses and manipulates the real life. For example, the money, which has four different functions, is now destroying the financial economy with a single function - the symbolic exchange value function. In addition, like the social media platforms, the metaverse is presented in a format that is more real than real life. Here, there is also an intervention in the function of religion. There are serious efforts which are made to substitute simultaneous virtual belief and ritual logic instead of real time and life experiences of the religion and the belief. Especially Islam is not a religion suitable for this intervention and target. Because Islam is primarily a worldly religion and remembers the afterlife in terms of what it promises. For Muslims, the religious rituals cannot be performed on a virtual level and separate from the real lives of other people. This separation from real life is the most advanced version of alienation and the most radical version of individualization. After the descriptions of metaverse, posthuman and economy, the article deals with this alienation and also criticizes alienation, which also means the separation of economy and money.

Keywords

• The metaverse
• the Posthuman
• the Economy
• the Money
• Individualization
• Islam.

Metaverse ve Posthumanın Muhtemel Riskleri: Ekonomi ve Paranın Birbirinden Ayrışması

Öz

Bu çalışma, teknoloji felsefelerinde taahhüt edilen kültür ile doğa arasındaki bütünleşmenin metaverse ve posthuman örneğindeki yansımalarını incelemektedir. Kültür ile doğa arasındaki dikotomi günlük yaşamda birçok yeni dikotomiye yol açabilmektedir. Özellikle modern dönemle birlikte matematik ile insan, teknoloji ile toplumsal yaşam, bilim ile din, sosyal medya ve metaverse ile gerçek yaşam ve para ile ekonomi arasında bazı ikilemler ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu ikilemlerin çözümü için çağdaş dönemde bireyselleşme geliştirilmiştir. Aslında 20. yüzyıl toplumları büyük ölçüde bireyselleşmiş ve orta sınıflaşmış toplumlardır. Bireyselleşme mevcut ikilemleri çözmeyi taahhüt ederken gitgide daha derin insani sorunlara yol açabilmektedir. Bunlardan en önemlisi gerçek insan yaşamına yardımcı olmak için icat edilen sanal yaşamın gerçek yaşamı baskılayan ve onu manipüle eden bir asla dönüşmesidir. Sözgelimi dört farklı işleve sahip olan para günümüzde tek bir işlevle -sembolik değişim değeri işleviyle- finansal ekonomiyi tahrip etmektedir. Ayrıca sosyal medya platformları gibi metaverse de gerçek yaşamdan daha gerçek bir formatta görücüye sunulmaktadır. Burada dinin işlevine de bir müdahalede bulunulmaktadır. Gerçek zaman ve yaşamdaki din ve inanç deneyimleri yerine eşzamanlı sanal inanç ve ritüel mantığı ikame edilmeye çabalanmaktadır. Özellikle İslam dini bu müdahale ve hedefe uygun bir din değildir. Çünkü İslam dini öncelikle dünyevi bir din olup vaat ettikleri bakımından ahireti anmaktadır. Müslümanlar açısından dini ritüeller sanal seviyede ve başka insanların gerçek yaşamlarından ayrı yerine getirilemez. Gerçek yaşamdan bu ayrıştırma yabancılaşmanın en ileri ve bireyselleşmenin en radikal versiyonudur. Makale metaverse, posthuman ve ekonomiye dair tariflerden sonra bu yabancılaşmayı ele almakta ve aynı zamanda ekonomi ve paranın birbirinden ayrışması demek de olan yabancılaşmayı eleştirmektedir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Metaverse
• Posthuman
• Ekonomi
• Para
• Bireyselleşme
• İslâm

References

1. Aramonte, S., Huang, W., Schrimpf, A. (2021). DeFi risks and the decentralisation illusion. BIS Quarterly Review (December), 21-36.
2. Baudrillard, J. (1993). Symbolic Exchange and Death. (İngilizceye Çev.: Iain Hamilton Grant). London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
3. Baudrillard, J. (1999). The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. (İngilizceye Çev.: C. T.). London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
4. Bernholz, P. (2014). “Money and its role in a decentralized market economy”. Money as God: The Monetisation of the Market and its Impact on Religion, Politics, Law and Ethics. (Ed.: Jürgen von Hagen, Michael Welker). (42-49) içinde. Cambridge University Press.
5. Bibri, S. E., Allam, Z. (2022). The Metaverse as a virtual form of data-driven smart cities: the ethics of the hyper-connectivity, datafcation, algorithmization, and platformization of urban society. Computational Urban Science (2:22), 1-22.
6. Carnadi, C. (2022). The Future of Religion in the Metaverse. Religion and Politics. Fit for Polite Company. https://religionandpolitics.org/2022/08/09/the-future-of-religion-in-the metaverse/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=912ebe0a5b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_08_10_02_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-912ebe0a5b-400753929 (12.10.2022).
7. Davis, B. W. (2019). Heidegger’s Releasement From the Technological Will. Heidegger on Technology. (Ed.: Aaron James Wendland, Christopher Merwin, Christos Hadjioannou). (133-148) içinde. Routledge.
8. Davis, W. J. (2021). Metaverse Explained for Beginners: A complete guide to Investing in cryptocurrency, NFT, Blockchain, Digital Assets, web 3 & Future Technologies. Amazon Kindle Baskısı.

9. Eecke, W. V. (2008). Ethical Dimensions of the Economy: Making Use of Hegel and the Concept of Public and Merit Goods. Springer.
10. Einstein, M. (2008). Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. Routledge.
11. Ejeke, P. (2022). WEB 3.0: What Is Web 3? Amazon Kindle Baskısı.
12. Ernst, W. (2014). Mensura et mensuratum: money as measure and measure for money. Money as God: The Monetisation of the Market and its Impact on Religion, Politics, Law and Ethics. (Ed.: Jürgen von Hagen, Michael Welker). (60-79) içinde. Cambridge University Press.
13. Fortnow, M., Terry, Q. (2022). The NFT Handbook How to Create, Sell and Buy Non-Fungible Tokens. Wiley.
14. Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse of Language. (Translated by A. M. Sheridan Smith).Pantheon Books.
15. Hackl, C., Lueth, D., Bartolo, T. (2022). Navigating the Metaverse: A Guide to Limitless Possibilities in a Web 3.0 World. (ed.: John Arkontaky). Wiley.
16. Hess, B. (2014). Standardization and Monetization: Legal Perspectives. Money as God: The Monetisation of the Market and its Impact on Religion, Politics, Law and Ethics. (Ed.: Jürgen von Hagen, Michael Welker). (80-95) içinde. Cambridge University Press.
17. Hochschild, A. R. (2012). The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. (3. Basım). University of California Press.
18. Jia, D. L. (2020). Dynamic Macroeconomic Models in Emerging Market Economies: DSGE Modelling with Financial and Housing Sectors. Palgrave Macmillan.
19. Jun, G. (2020). Virtual Reality Church as a New Mission Frontier in the Metaverse: Exploring Theological Controversies and Missional Potential of Virtual Reality Church. Transformation (00 (0)), 1-9.
20. Mercer, C., Trothen, T. J. (2021). Religion and the Technological Future: An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism. Palgrave Macmillan.
21. Özdemir, M. (2022). Bireysel ve Toplumsal İnsan Varoluşunun Temel Belirleyicisi Olarak Paranın Üretimi ve Dolaşımı. Yetkin Düşünce. Dosya Konusu: Para/Tarihten Geleceğe, Bütün Yönleriyle (4/18), 17-30.
22. Palladino, S. (2019). Ethereum for Web Developers: Learn to Build Web Applications on top of the Ehtereum Blockchain. Apress.
23. Peter, L. (2021). NFT, Metaverse & Defi The Complete Guide to Invest and Build Wealth in a Decentralized World - How to Lend, Trade & Invest in cryptocurrency and Digital Assets. Amazon Kindle Baskısı.
24. Ragnedda, M., Destefanis, G. (2020). Blockchain: A Disruptive Technology. Blockchain and Web 3.0: Social, Economic, and Technological Challenges. (Ed.: Massimo Ragnedda, Giuseppe Destefanis). (1-12) içinde. Routledge.
25. Russell, J. (2022). Metaverse for Beginners: A Complete Guide on How to Invest in the Metaverse: Learn all about land investing. Nft, and virtual reality | 5 Crypto Projects that are going to explode soon. Amazon Kindle Baskısı.
26. Sandel, M. (2012) What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Market. Penguin Book, e-book.
27. Siegler, M. (2022). The Dialectics of Action and Technology in the Philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre. Philosophy & Technology (35: 47), 1-28.
28. Stock, B. (2022) Metaverse: The #1 Guide to Conquer The Blockchain World and Invest in Virtual Lands, NFT (Crypto Art), Altcoins and Cryptocurrency + Best DeFi Projects. Blockchain NFT Academy. Amazon Kindle Baskısı.
29. Swing, C., Nakamoto, M. (2021). Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Trading. Amazon Kindle Baskısı.
30. Tadros, M. (2011). E-hijab: Muslim Women in the Metaverse. Formulations & Findings. International Journal of Learning and Media (2: 2-3), 45-61.
31. Virgilo, D. (2022). What Comparisons Between Second Life and the Metaverse Miss. Future Tense. (Feb 09, 2022). https://slate.com/technology/2022/02/second-life-metaverse-facebook-comparisons.html
32. Wahba, M. (2022). Fundamentalism and Secularization. (Çev.: Robert K. Beshara). Bloomsbury Academic.
33. Welker, M. (2014). “Kohelet and the Co-evolution of a Monetary Economy and Religion”. Money as God: The Monetisation of the Market and its Impact on Religion, Politics, Law and Ethics. (Ed.: Jürgen von Hagen, Michael Welker). (96-108) içinde. Cambridge University Press.
34. Wrathall, M. A (2019). The Task of Thinking in a Technological Age. Heidegger on Technology. (Ed.: Aaron James Wendland, Christopher Merwin, Christos Hadjioannou). (13-38) içinde. Routledge.
35. Yaz, D. A. (2022). “Dursun Ali Yaz İle Söyleşi”. Yetkin Düşünce. Dosya Konusu: Para/Tarihten Geleceğe, Bütün Yönleriyle (4/18), 127-143.
36. Young, J. (2019). Heidegger, Habermas, Freedom, and Technology. Heidegger on Technology. (Ed.: Aaron James Wendland, Christopher Merwin, Christos Hadjioannou). (194-208) içinde. Routledge.