Virtual reality, Freedom, Incarnation

(the first of three, or so, posts coming out of my summer reading of Lev Manovich concerning new media and technology)

___

What if the direction of virtual reality were reversed such that it is not us that enters into a virtual reality, leaving our normal plane of existence, but rather we are always virtual and the incarnation is God leaving his normal plane of existence and enters into our virtual reality, our copy/simulacra of reality.

Think about the Matrix. In the virtual reality of the Matrix, everything runs according to Laws and Programs which fulfill there destiny/function. But Neo comes in as one able to bend, break, augment these Laws according to his design. He brings freedom into the Matrix. And for us (humanity) this is how we must figure the break into and out of virtual reality– the forced choice of Freedom conquering VR.

But what if the God’s entering into our virtual reality is the opposite of this. Our VR is structure around freedom (even its forced choice), so might it be possible that this person would break with our Laws of freedom, conquering our VR with a new Law of necessity and function? And wouldn’t this enable the great reversal where we see that our conquering of Law through Freedom is merely the greatest support of the Law, and God’s conquering of Freedom through the Law is merely the greatest support of Freedom which is Love?

And of course, wouldn’t this mean that Jesus’ actions (and our repetition of them) would always seem irrational, impractical, insane, and leading toward death? And might this economy of sacrifice and love not signal the possibility of another life outside the laws of our VR: beyond selfishness and violence?