Cypher, for those who don't know, is the secondary antagonist within the third and fourth act of the pop culture smash hit movie "The Matrix" released in 1999. In Cypher's first interaction with Neo, he is clearly disillusioned with the world he is in and his position within it. He laments his decision and his most quotable lines are "why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?" and "ignorance is bliss". His attitude is polarizing to everyone else's and the name "Cypher" is that of a greek god who dwells in deception and shape shifting. "Cipher" is also the name for a secret form of writing or code which is why the word "decipher" is used to solve something hidden. Cypher's role in the plot is clear and his machiavellian intentions are all but obvious. This then culminates in him betraying Morpheus(and ultimately Zion) in exchange for being re-inserted into the Matrix by Agent Smith. Prior to this, Cypher's exposition with Smith in the matrix was short but concise. The theme of his micro monologue aligned perfectly with the movie's solipsistic underpinnings and he made his point clear; reality is only what you BELIEVE it is..nothing more..nothing less.
When we think about what the real world, modern day equivalent of the beginnings of an actual Matrix, it isn't Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse that comes to mind. As a matter of fact, for most, nothing really comes to mind as the distance between the immersiveness of the virtual world's we peruse today and the fictional matrix seems so indescribably vast. Yet, there is a parallel and it can only be found in the world of VR Chat. VR Chat(VRC) is a game created in 2017 where players can create instanced worlds where they can interact with other users via avatars. Full body tracking (including eye blinking & movement) is a feature and half of it’s 24,000 concurrent users play in VR headsets. The game supports tens of thousands of completely custom user created worlds with a plethora of built in games that users can play together though its primary use is simply socializing and hanging out with friend. While it is essentially a very rudimentary precursor to the Wachowski’s Matrix, it is the current zenith of digitally simulated reality. At face value, VRC appears to be a child game with the worlds being hyper-vibrant, colorful, and animated yet most users are between the ages of 18 and 34 despite the minimum age being 13. VRC’s terms of service relative to user content and experience is relatively liberal as any violation of ToS and a concurrent ban can be subverted by simply creating a new account. At the same time, there is a ranking system where users acquire different name badging after a certain amount of hours on the same account and users with the highest badging often avoid talking to new users who have the lowest. This incentivizes adherence to the ToS and social etiquette for the sake of connection. Still, similar to real life, the VRC experience is expansive, variable and volatile.
You could enter a world that is a giant sandbox with mostly kids playing virtual catch while discussing another game, school, or their family life. You could enter a world set on a 3D platform in space with teenagers having deep, intimate, thought-provoking conversations about philosophy, religion, and mental health while gazing out at digital cosmos. You could enter a worlds that is literally VR church with real world pastors giving sermons and reading through the actual bible. Is the opposite true? Of course. There are actually 18+ worlds that are literally dim-lit, high end, neon strip clubs with professional dancers in fully nude avatars pole dancing where people play party games involving consuming drugs and alcohol, and have non-sarcastic, simulated sex in private rooms….yes, I’m not even kidding with the last one. It's actually called erotic role play(ERP) and people were doing this before the commercialization of haptic feedback suits so I’m sure you can imagine what’s going on there. Every level of decency and debauchery can and does happen in this game. VRC even has an economy where users pay other users to do any and everything with them. Users even form organizations that run donation derived funding channels that pay developers to create custom worlds and avatars for the group. Some people actually make a living developing VRC specific content. I know this is hard to believe but, despite the bulky, uncomfortable headsets and necessary proximity to their computers, many users sleep in VRC. They are entire worlds designed for this. People date in VRC and some even meet up in real life and eventually get married. VRC isn’t just a game. It is a prophecy; a cultural revolution that tech conglomerates like Facebook, which is now Meta, are betting their entire $572B brand name on.
So I've said all this to say what exactly? Well, people cuddle in VRC too. Don't worry, I had the same bewilderment...and the same questions; mainly "why?" and "how?". Well the "why" shouldn't be too much of a mystery to anyone on this site. VR cuddlers perceive the same problem we do...their solution is just drastically different. Still, for as much as we go on about the undeniable power of physical touch and affection, it is understandable to be highly critical of a non-physical solution to what we perceive to be a physical problem...and that's where the "how" comes in.
There is a phenomenon called phantom pain where someone who has lost a limb or an appendage feels perceives pain in that missing body part. Some scientist say this is a product of the shorting of the nerves that were previously connected to the limb while others say it is a consequence of the latency of the brain in reconfiguring it's body map. There is little research on the mechanics of this phenomenon but it doesn't actually matter to much how it happens but it does...and so does the opposite. Phantom pleasure is perceiving physical stimulus where none actually exist. VR players report feeling sensations in the body parts that are being touched on their avatars within the game. This seems to be especially prevalent when they first start playing as the extent of the immersiveness is still novel to them. When you really think about it, we've all experienced this. Most people have watched someone or a video of someone getting significantly injured in a certain body part, winced, and clutched at our own equivalent body part. It's like we "feel" it too and there is even an evolutionary imperative for this. As a tribal species, it is important that we feel the pain and pleasure of others as it incentivizes helping heal them or rejoicing with them to promote social cohesion. So, in this way, VRC players are hacking the brain into experiencing, to varying degrees, the bliss of touch and affection purely through virtual simulation. After all, reality is only what we believe it to be and metaphysical phenomenon like phantom sensations and even the placebo effect prove that the mind is powerful and so are it's delusions.
I have always been a naturalist and am highly critical of those who sacrifice natural experiences for virtual one's but what is "natural" but a belief? No one in The Matrix ever pondered if Zion and the war against the machines was just another matrix itself. Surely, that line of thinking would've only lead to madness for reality itself can never actually be proven to be real. If we claim to understand this than we can't simultaneously judge VRC players for creating theirs. What is weird today is often normal tomorrow and if the illusion is convincing, then I don't honestly care whether the person I'm cuddling with is "real" or not...as long as it is real to me. That's why it seems that Cypher was right.