Author: Austina Karma Gurung

The COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions (ongoing and onward-going) will (hopefully) be the subject of decades of research. While the outbreak has stunted human development – some may argue, even reversing social growth – technological innovation has flourished exponentially. The end of 2021, otherwise known as Covid Year 2, saw the clique obsession with something called the Metaverse: a thing that was undefined as the New Year rang in, and remains to be defined – because “What is a definition if not agreed upon?” In other words, there is no consensus on what the Metaverse is. A thing that is not defined is pliable, not limited to its denotation: either a shrewd business castling move or an onus that no one wants to concede. Whatever the reason(s), such signals are of interest to futurists and non-futurists alike.