I was walking around as a giant panda. Not your typical kung-fu type, but a translucent holographic one with a fat grin and awkward arms. This is the first time I've ever been a panda before. My whole life I was a human.
The other avatars in VR Chat were friendly and found me amusing. Embodying another creature was transformational. First, I chose to be a black woman with limp shoulders and thick glasses. I was not confident, even though in the real world I was still my dashing-self. I had a sense of inadequacy. This had me reflecting on my own conscious. "Have I been programmed to believe black nerdy-looking women are inadequate?", I pondered. Most of society (or at least the loudest of the people) today would say "yes, you've been taught to be /racist and sexiest/. Maybe. Another possibility is that I was outside my comfort zone. Had I spent years learning how to use my features and qualities to my advantage, my demeanor might be more confident. In the physical world I find many nerdy black women very attractive, and I get clunky trying to be cool. Maybe that's why I opted to avatar as one when the opportunity arrived? I looked for a new avatar, questing deeper into the game-play.
After stumbling through an unmarked portal and into an obscure world, I morphed into a panda. This was as awesome as I'd ever felt. An elation that could rival all the other mind-blowing moments in my life (not that I'm a rock-star or much too special, but I've had a few moments of triumph). Why did I enjoy being a panda so much? Maybe my whole life I was a fat-kid at heart, and finally my physique resemble an appealing heaviness - as panda's are damn good looking creatures. Or maybe the majesty of being a rare and admired beast allured my ego. Maybe the simple fact I was taller, rounder and more huggable than every other avatar around bolstered my confidence.
I'm no researcher or psychologist, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that VR, and embodying other life-forms, is going to have a wildly powerful impact our minds. Generations are affected by the technologies and tools available to them in their formative years. Think about the Greatest Generation's war-time lifestyle, Baby-boomers and cars, 80s babies and the internet.
Today, I assign interns 10 years my junior, whom have about 20,000 hours less experience in the business world than I, to take on business related computer tasks. They accomplish these tasks twice as fast as I would. This is not because they are smarter- even though they might be - but because they are quick to make sense of the tools (computers) and apply them appropriately, whereas I'd fumble more. So what will this next generation, who grows up with VR in the home, and embody other life-forms think and do? They will know what it is like to embody the lives of people from around the world - learn about themselves and humanity in a personal, first-person way that we never could. They will test life as someone rich and famous, as a stray cat, as a poisoned tree, as a lonely asteroid, as a pepperoni on my pizza, as a black woman, as a giant panda, as a plankton, as a historic hero, as a forgotten philosopher, as a toaster, as who-knows-what.
Morphing into other beings, and living as a different creature than the meat suit you're currently in, is going to bend the psyche like never before.