The Virtual Reality Show of the Postmodern Don Quijote’s Old Horse or The Tilting at Windmills of the Virtual Reality for Human Accomplishment

Abstract

Our world is changing—and that is undoubtedly a good thing. Virtual reality is increasingly influencing the real world as well. In many areas, this is highly beneficial (for example, in industry, medicine, the military, as well as in ordinary, everyday/private contexts such as bank transfers, online shopping, and chatting). However, VR also conceals many dangers. Human beings move within these new spheres of life and are—often involuntarily—not merely influenced by the illusions of this world, but fundamentally transformed by them. Virtual violence creates a dangerous pseudo-reality. Our society is full of simulated realities. It is a constant struggle between appearance and being, in which appearance itself becomes being. Yet virtuality is not everything, and not everything is virtual. There exists a reality that determines all things—the “most real reality” (Hans Küng)—which we call God. The reality of God may be silenced, but it cannot be completely destroyed. Sooner or later, the life of illusion cries out for this reality—for the reality that addresses and fulfills being. Virtual reality cannot bring human beings to fulfillment. Thus, VR reveals itself to be like Don Quixote’s scrawny horse—incapable of ever leading being to its (ultimate) fulfillment—and its striving for the (eternal) happiness of humanity proves to be a hopeless, futile battle against windmills.