Ethical Reflction on Ready Player One

In this post, I will do an ethical reflection on the book I read during the semester: Ready Player One, a novel written by Ernest Cline. The story is about Wade Watts, a boy who lives in the year 2044, who like the rest of humanity, prefers to spend the whole day immersed in a video game called OASIS, than in real life. After the creator of OASIS dies, Wade gets involved in the search for an easter egg that the creator hid inside OASIS that promises a great fortune and total control of OASIS, finding the egg can give a complete turn to Wade's life, not before facing a whole series of adventures, difficulties and dangers.

Ready player one has become one of my favorite readings of the year and now I'm more interested than ever in reading books of the same genre, I really enjoy how the story is built, the universe that the author created seems fantastic to me and all Those pop culture references that I included throughout the book made me learn a lot and get interested in new things.

Let's start the reflection, as I mentioned earlier, Wade preferred to spend all his time immersed in OASIS instead of living and doing things in the real world. If Wade enjoyed more of his existence in the video game, is it okay for Wade to forget to live in the real world?

Let's support this discussion in two quotations of the book:

Morrow wrote in his autobiography that he’d left GSS because ... he felt that the OASIS had evolved into something horrible. “It had become a self-imposed prison for humanity,” he wrote. “A pleasant place for the world to hide from its problems while human civilization slowly collapses, primarily due to neglect.” - [1.] (p. 120)

(Halliday speaking) “I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn’t know how to connect with people there. I was afraid, for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.” -[1.] (p. 364)

Now, let's answer some questions that will reflect my ethical reflection about ready player one:

Do I agree with the two previous quotations?

My opinion is a little divided, the state that was humanity was not nice, it was logical to think that people would seek an escape from this suffering and OASIS meant the perfect escape, where they could live what in their real lives was not possible, somehow they could be happy. The problem began when people began to use OASIS routinely, without stopping, without living their real life and carrying out real actions that would lead them to a better life.A balance between life in OASIS and real life was ideal, OASIS was a magical place full of possibilities but in real life there were also endless opportunities, maybe everything is harder in reality but that reality is a little sweeter than in a video game.

  

Do I see any virtues in a system like the OASIS?

OASIS is great, it practically has everything, offers endless possibilities, you can have access to a lot of information, you can travel, you can do business and relationships, remotely and almost effortlessly. Education and entertainment may be available to everyone, not important where they are or their economic conditions.

Do I think our value system (personal and cultural values) could be altered if we spent most of our time in an OASIS like system?

Of course, OASIS does not work the same rules, systems and values that work in the real world, OASIS is a collection of very different worlds with different characteristics and with different purposes. If we spend a lot of time in OASIS, it is likely that we will begin to translate these rules in the real world, where they are not adaptable.

Did I find any interesting resemblances between the dystopic “real world” presented in “Ready Player One” and those presented in other works of fiction such as “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, “The Hunger Games”, “The Matrix”, “Soylent Green”, etc?

Technological advancement is a double-edged sword, thanks to it the world can evolve, find solutions and products that make life easier, the problem begins when you place all your confidence in technology, putting all human processes and activities in charge of technology, even using it for negative and descluding propositions.

Do I think that there are any similarities between the OASIS and the way we currently use IT technology  and social networks?

Yes, we are on the way. I can see it very clearly on social networks. Social networks bring us closer to our friends, connect us with the world in a very simple and attractive way, it seems easier to interact through Facebook than in real life, social networks in some way allow us, in a certain way, to be who we want to be. Why have a meeting with friends if whatsapp exists? It does not seem an ideal scenario, the relations between people are not as authentic through a screen that face to face. Technology brings us closer but it takes us away at the same time, we need to look for balance and look up from the screen more often because that is not where the reality is.

Do I think it’s possible to have something similar to the OASIS by the years 2040 or 2050?

Of course, technology is growing by leaps and bounds, many technologies would have to merge to create something of that caliber, but it seems very possible to me. I really hope to see it become reality, it would be incredible as long as these technologies are used with measure and responsibility because what Halliday said is true: Reality is real! 

Can you envision a software architecture, using currently available technologies and tools, to build a system that could evolve to something like the OASIS?

Yes, I think something like microservices but on a large scale, could work to start building something like OASIS, the software design would have to be excellent because it is quite complex and with many details that need to be abstracted to start with a good planning and execution.

Concluding, OASIS seems magical and incredible, I would love to spend time there and be able to live adventures that I could not live in real life, but the reality is amazing, sometimes painful but beautiful, with true happiness and love.