Is Your Virtual Body Healthier Than You?

Does your non-digital body benefit when your avatar is working out?

Photo by Vadim Bogulov on Unsplash

What happens when the typical constraints on our health vanish?

In the physical world, DNA sets bodily boundaries of who we can become. Biological realities necessitate that we eat, drink, and sleep to survive. Age, race, ethnicity, gender, and other social identities constrain how we show up in our body and how can care for them. Social, economic, and political realities afford us different bodily privileges, different access to health resources, and different standards of self-care.

But in the virtual world, all this goes away. We’re largely untethered from biological and social constraints. We’re free to be in-formation — design yourself to take any shape, color, or form.

You choose your online DNA. Your avatar is an opportunity to build the body you’ve never had in real life. It’s a chance to navigate through the virtual world in an entirely new way.

What do you do with this freedom?

Moreover, what does this freedom do to your physical body?

Does it wither away strapped into a love seat plugged into the metaverse? Does it enjoy the afterglow of a virtual body that is afforded different privileges? Does your physical body get jealous of your avatar? Does your avatar scoff at the bio-needs of your physical body?

Who ultimately benefits from digital embodiment: your online persona or your physical one?

Let’s see who keeps the score.

In cells and in pixels,

~ Jeff