In Neal Stephenson’s Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, we are presented with a vision of the digital afterlife that is both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The idea of being able to upload our consciousness into a digital world after death is a tantalizing prospect for many, and the novel’s depiction of a virtual world where the dead can continue to live and interact with each other is both fascinating and unsettling.
But what if we took this concept even further? What if we imagined a world where the afterlife was not just a singular digital realm, but an entire universe of digital worlds, each one populated by the souls of the departed? What if we imagined a world like Minecraft, where the possibilities are endless and the only limits are our imaginations?
For many gamers, the idea of being able to upload their consciousness into a digital world after death is a dream come true. The ability to continue exploring and building in a world like Minecraft, even after their physical body has passed, is a tantalizing prospect. And the infinite possibilities of Minecraft make it an ideal world to hold digital souls. With its endless landscapes, hidden caves, and mysterious creatures, Minecraft is a world that can never be fully explored or understood, making it the perfect place for the eternal wanderings of digital souls.
But with the prospect of digital immortality comes a host of ethical and moral quandaries. Who gets to upload their consciousness into the digital afterlife, and who gets left behind? Will there be different tiers of existence, with some souls living in luxury and others living in poverty? And what will happen to those souls who become trapped in the digital world, unable to escape or find release?
Some of these questions are wrestled with in the Amazon series Upload. In upload, wealthy residents of the digital paradise, Lakeview, live in the lap of digital luxury. Meanwhile, other uploaded souls are data hard-capped, and live most of their lives in suspended animation, once they’ve exceeded their data allotment.
As William Gibson once said, “The street finds its own uses for things.”
And in a world where the afterlife exists as a streaming show for all of the living, we can only imagine the unintended consequences that will arise. Will we become a society of digital voyeurs, watching the eternal lives of the departed from our living rooms? Will we lose touch with our humanity, as we become more and more enmeshed in the digital world? In Fall, humanity is so captivated by the ‘show’ of the digital afterlife, that the living human race becomes little more than a vassal state to the afterlife. Most resources are poured into the processors that power the afterlife, and most people do little more than waste away while waiting for their chance to be uploaded.
Only time will tell where we are headed as a species, and whether the digital afterlife is a blessing or a curse. But one thing is certain: the digital age has forever changed our relationship with death and the afterlife, and we can only imagine the strange new worlds that await us beyond the veil.
