The age-old question of “what happens after we die” is one that has plagued humanity for millennia. Religions, philosophers and thought leaders have put forward theories about the fate of each person beyond life on earth. To date, no factual, science-based conclusion has provided a satisfactory answer.
Psychologists have known that the fear of death – or the reality of mortality – is the main motivator of human action. Developments such as cloning and the creation of virtual worlds, which were previously science fiction, have become reality, perhaps another struggle to answer this question – or even defeat death.
Today, in the age of the metaverse, humans are the architects of the new digital world and, therefore, of the new digital life. In the Web3 space, the metaverse has received a lot of attention from outside investment and increased participation from legacy companies. The metaverse sector will be worth an estimated $5 trillion by 2030.
Many believe that the metaverse will reshape how social life is structured.
This new genesis of digital life naturally brings up the same question – with a twist. If life was reinvented in digital reality, would death be any different? Specifically, what happens after we die in the metaverse as humans and avatars?
What happens when we die digitally?
The existential question of what happens after we die remains unanswered as to the final or next destination of our souls. However, cultures around the world have different ways of handling death-related ceremonies, which are the human experience of determining what happens to the body after death.
As more people continue to digitize their identities, create virtual avatars and hold digital assets, the question of what happens after death resurfaces.
The introduction of social media is one of the first events before humans had to deal with their digital identity after death.
On Facebook, for example, user profiles become “remembered” as “a place for friends and family to gather and share memories after a person has died.” This is also a security feature to prevent future logins.
Facebook’s parent company Meta has been actively pursuing the development of the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the company, made an explanatory video for the metaverse Meta in October 2021.
When the clip did not explicitly mention death, users began to question death in the metaverse. Soon, a dystopian meme spread on social media with a quote from Zuckerberg: “If you die in the metaverse, you die in real life.”
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2021
However, the founder and executive of the metaverse platform is toying with the idea of death as digital reality evolves.
Latest: In the future of crypto, DeFi needs improvement to mature and grow
Frank Wilder, co-founder of the metaverse platform Wilder World, told Cointelegraph that when we build sacred places in the metaverse and create new avatars for ourselves, the concept of “death” is not limited to the death of the physical body:
“In this digital world, we have the ability to imagine new forms of existence after death, such as maintaining a person’s digital consciousness or creating a virtual memorial.”
Wilder says that honoring “the sanctity of life is a complex exploration,” and that humans will have many ways to choose how to honor life.
Graveyard in the sky
For Mariana Cabugueira, the lead architect and urban planner of the Wilder World’s first digital city, Wiami, this “new dimension of reality” calls for a new approach to preserving heritage.
Take the concept of a cemetery, for example. In his view, the metaverse cemetery will be less like a cemetery and more like a designated memorial with capsules containing memory and soul, created by the owner for digital rest.
“This digital capsule shows how we want to be remembered and respected, tells our story, and gives us the warmth of our souls.”
Even if the avatar does not age, the mind behind the avatar can change the digital character and deserves closure and celebration, said Cabugueira, adding, “the memory capsule cemetery will be the place of closure of life, to end our character – the self we left behind – or the stage of life that is no longer there’s more.”
In Wilder World, Cabugueira had a vision of how these spaces would look. He said the memorial would be “cathedral-like”, with symbolism linked to the sky and light.
“Remembrance is not just a grave but a celebration of life that flourishes,” he said.
The ethics of digital life after death
Digital burials are only part of what happens after digital death. The more important question is: What happens to our digital assets and data?
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, believes that we are still early in this discussion. He told Cointelegraph that those who think about the matter are more concerned about it “how custody of assets can be transferred to heirs instead of managing metaverse identity.” Siu said:
“In the metaverse, your digital persona can still have influence and impact even when you are no longer operating. In fact, your digital persona can become even more influential and therefore valuable after your physical death.
Marja Konttinen, marketing director of the Decentraland Foundation – the founding organization of the Decentraland metaverse – said that cyberspace is often considered a “thing of the future;” However, they can also be a powerful tool as windows to the month.
Konttinen highlighted that a digital twin that lives on after the user’s physical death can raise the same ethical questions as deep artificial and fake intelligence.
“It certainly opens up the possibility of creating a permanent virtual mausoleum of our memories and experiences, perhaps in the form of NPCs. [non-player character] who look and speak like us, forever living in the metaverse,” he said.
‘Thanotechnology’ and ‘the dream’
Death in the digital reality has combined emerging technologies with age-old fields of study surrounding death and grief.
Cole Imperi is a thanatologist – a specialist in the understanding of death, dying, grief and bereavement, derived from the Greek word for death, “thanatos” – and the founder of the School of American Thanatology. He told Cointelegraph that there is a subfield in thanatology called “tanotechnology” that focuses on the intersection of the field and technology.
He told Cointelegraph that the digital space could offer more ways to “seamlessly connect the dead with the living,” which is not possible in the physical space:
“The digital afterlife offers more opportunities for ongoing bonds with loved ones who have passed away and, I believe, also holds the greatest opportunity for advancement in the way we remember and remember our loved ones.”
In 2009, Imperi even coined the term “dream”, which refers to the digital remains that people leave online after they die. Imperi helped run ThanaLab, which monitors “online memorialization patterns and developments related to user deaths.”
He says that the digital death of users is becoming more common, and it is only natural that this aspect of their physical life goes into the digital space.
Do we have an answer?
The Metaverse has been around for a long time. In 1992, American sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson first coined the term metaverse, although it was before any of the platforms that exist today.
That said, even now, as we have a more realistic idea of the metaverse and its capabilities, it’s still in its infancy. This means that concepts important to humans that have a place in the physical world, such as death, still exist digitally.
New: Is the IMF closing the door before Bitcoin is legal tender?
Digital architects like Mariana Cabugueira are now envisioning the future of digital cemeteries, and researchers like Cole Imperi are monitoring human digital remains online.
We still don’t know what happens after death; However, in the metaverse, we are getting closer to the answer.