[ WP ] Your grandchildren are amazed that people used to travel by plane . `` What 's wrong with virtual reality ? '' they ask . What do you tell them ?

“ Nothing, ” I replied. “ Nothing ’ s wrong with VR.. ” 
 
 They were so young, they hadn ’ t experienced anything else. I imagine the feeling I had in that moment was the same kind of feeling my parents had when I asked about books. 
 
 The truth was, of course, that Virtual Reality was great. It really was. But it wasn ’ t real… I mean… Planes hadn ’ t been a viable mode of transport for a long time now. It ’ s not that it ’ d become too expensive. It ’ d become impossible. There wasn ’ t any fuel. They hadn ’ t upgraded fast enough to match technology and even if they had, where would we go? No-one goes outside anymore. 
 
 I remember watching the classic movie, “ The Truman Show ”, when I was younger. I remember being fascinated that they had created a whole world for this guy to live in. A decade later, construction companies from all over were being hired in to start work on the domes. 
 
 We didn ’ t really talk about it, but the sky we saw on a day-to-day basis wasn ’ t the sky as it was outside. It was a projection. In order to protect the people, the domes painted on the outside with a solar paint. It reflected a certain amount of the sun ’ s rays, but also harnessed a certain amount of it ’ s power, too. It, however, let zero percent of its light through. Without the LEDs baked into the dome ’ s shell, we ’ d be living in darkness. 
 
 Over the years, since the domes went up, there have been claims of what it ’ s like outside now. Kids claiming they ’ ve found a way out. Under some wall on some far off edge. Claims that the water has evaporated ( entirely possible, water supplies were already dwindling when my parents were kids. We ’ ve been using the fake stuff for most things for the better part of forty years ), claims that the sky was no longer blue, rather as black as night. All day long. 
 
 I ’ ve never been tempted to find out how much, if any of it is true. 
 
 “ Nothing ’ s wrong with VR… It lets you hold on to something long since gone. ” 

