The Greek Gods and the Metaverse: Legal Order in the Layered Universe

Abstract

The article explores how human relations in relationship with „the metaverse” – a novel term used to describe an alternative reality enabled by nascent immersive technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality, in combination with blockchain and artificial intelligence ‑ can be understood conceptually by drawing parallels to systems of thought based on a multi‑layered universe. Greek mythology offers insightful examples of interactions between the different layers of the ancient Greek universe. One can easier understand how to design the rules for the responsibility of humans interacting with each other in different layers of the universe (as physical beings in the natural reality and as avatars the virtual reality of the metaverse), as well as the interaction with their created purely artificial beings (artificial intelligence ‑non playable characters in the metaverse), when looking at the way in which the Greek mythology has designed such situations. The epic interactions between Greek gods in Olympus, men on Earth, and souls in the underworld, illustrate lessons around fundamental concepts questioned by the nascence of the metaverse, such as personal identity, free will, and laws in a multi‑layered universe. Also, one can look at the model of the layered universe, with moral rules incorporated by Gods in the fabric of the humans as part of the reality of Earth, and perhaps learn as to how one could design ethical behavioural rules in the fabric of the metaverse, too. Using the analogy with Greek mythology, the article explores the fundamental dilemmas humans have now, in terms of addressing the issue of responsibility and representation in the newly create metaverse, seen as a new layer of the universe.