The Metaverse — Part 1: Defining a Metaverse
If you’ve never found yourself hanging around the horned-rim glasses wearing literary fans or the all in black art crowd, you may not be familiar with the word “meta” and it’s many uses. Its origin story, like many others, takes place in ancient greek mythology. Meta was the first wife of the Athenian king, Aegeus. The word itself, Meta, is derived from μετά, meta, meaning “beyond” or “after”. Meta was the equivalent to the Latin “post-” or “ad-”. However, the contemporary version of Meta is not very old; meta appeared for the first time in 1988. Despite its age, Meta, has many definitions, all of which make it an uncanny name for the future of technology… or rather, of all things.
Meta when used as an adjective is defined by Merriam-Webster
Definition of meta
informal : showing or suggesting an explicit awareness of itself or oneself as a member of its category : cleverly self-referential
informal : concerning or providing information about members of its own category
One of the most famous instances of meta is the Spanish classic, Don Quijote. A tale in which an old man relives the fantasies of the novels he reads. This is the exemplary of meta as it is a novel about someone reading a novel, which is exactly what you are doing as you read the novel. The levels of meta continue on for enough material to write a dozen-page thesis, but that’s not what this article is about.
Meta (sometimes just “met-“) can also be used as a prefix defined below by Merriam Webster dictionary as
1. a. occurring later than or in succession to : after
b : situated behind or beyond
c : later or more highly organized or specialized form of
2. : change : transformation
3. : more comprehensive : transcending
The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.
CashApp us
Venmo us
Paypal us
As you can see the young word, meta, carries a certain weight, a wisdom that ancient philosophers would have swooned over.
Hopefully now you have a better understanding of what the forces behind our incoming metaverse are implying with its man-given name. This foreboding name and its many faces has a smugness about it. I struggle to put into words exactly how the pieces all fit together so well. Its tailored fit is uncanny at best (maybe worst) and genius. This realization set in with the burn of a dignified comeback.
Adjective, informal : showing or suggesting an explicit awareness of itself or oneself as a member of its category : cleverly self-referential
The modern origin story of the term ‘Metaverse’ dates back to 1992, a novel called Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. An era where the “web” was in its infantile state, just a 2D, binary world of plain text. In this first instance of ‘metaverse’ it is referring to an imaginary computer generated place. A new word for a new world. Since we developed the metaverse, its creation takes place after that of ours. Meta is used to show that this place is “cleverly self-referential” being that it acknowledges that it is a world beyond the reality of our normal world. This also transmits the concept of transcendence. The metaverse will be a comprehensive expression of our desired reality. It will be present in every part of our day to day lives. Many of us are already using a few of the parts that will make up the metaverse once it is complete. For example, cryptocurrency is a feature of the metaverse. Crypto will be the currency used in the metaverse and the basis for the economy that functions within the metaverse. As you can see, we are already downloading these new features and making them part of our collective reality in order to some day transcend its limitations.
3. Prefix: more comprehensive : transcending
The second part of this series, Imagining a Modern Metaverse, elaborates on the vision for the metaverse and features the inside scoop with big tech leader, Mark Zuckerberg. Part 2 is available now only on The Internet Patrol.
The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.
CashApp us
Venmo us
Paypal us
