Why Do Users Believe This App Can Help Them Switch Between Realities?

Reality changers are a group of people who believe that they can transport themselves to different realities by using techniques they learn from posts on the internet. Some of these techniques are old; such as breathing exercises, affirmations and visualization. But one of the most important techniques is quite contemporary: an app on your phone.

The reality shift began in the late 2010s on Amino, a small fandom-centric social media platform. But TikTok first attracted mainstream attention in 2020; During this period, many people, especially young people who grew up immersed in fantasy and online worlds, had reason to feel that their current reality was incomplete. It’s the unique combination of spirituality, technology, and social community that attracts hundreds of thousands of people who subscribe to online reality-altering communities on Reddit, Discord, and TikTok.

Using certain rituals, changelings can go to their “desired reality” (DR) and travel to places like Hogwarts or Westeros, or even move into an alternate reality of their real life. There are as many views on change as there are those undergoing change, but in general the community believes that we live in a multiverse and therefore all these realities are equally real. Shifting from your original reality (OR) to DR is all about unlocking the power of your mind.

According to a study published in 2021 Current PsychologySome report experiencing “spinning, shaking, falling sensations” as the body enters a trance state and the new reality emerges. Ears buzz and ring, voices are heard and phantom sensations are felt. The characteristics of each experience are different, as are the realities entered.

How Are People Sleeping, Snoring, and Snoozing in Virtual Reality Every Night?

But overall, one thing seems true: Change is hard. The online areas of the community are full of people asking for help and complaining that they’ve been trying to make the switch for years but can’t.

Of course, skeptics point out that a big part of this is actually having a very vivid, lucid dream; but some diverters will vehemently oppose this. For those who are “successful,” the reality alteration session may begin with the “raven” or “starfish” method, which involves lying on the floor, counting to one hundred, and an affirmation such as “I am in my desired reality and.” I can feel it between each number. Some use “subliminals,” specially selected audio tracks, to help them transition. The essence of many changemakers’ practice is “scripting”: writing out complex details before changing what DR looks like.

Or you can just use the app.

An App to Separate from Reality

The app is called Lifa and aims to help users “script” what will happen when they reach a new reality. While the app will be released to the Apple and Google app stores in 2023, Lifa was first conceptualized in 2019 by a former member of the Amino community. According to their explanation, the practice did not exist in this reality; rather it existed as an application. your Wanted reality.

Think of it as a kind of WeChat for the multiverse. The DR Lifa app allows you to create a portal to move between realities, just like you would call an Uber in real life. It also allows you to reveal any object or clothing, allowing you to remotely watch your original as if it were a show on Netflix in whatever reality you want.

As the shift spread beyond Amino, it moved into “ShiftTok,” the loose community surrounding the app on TikTok and a cluster of subreddits and Discord servers. Every step of the way, different users shared new versions of their Lifa apps.

DR Lifa is imagined as a technology company, complete with logo and user experience. It exists to give you absolute freedom and access to the reality it offers; But if you don’t know what you want, DR Lifa knows you well enough to offer you something “a trillion times better” than what you want. The anonymous switcher told The Daily Beast.

TikTok, Meta, and Apple can only hope for this kind of power; however, DR Lifa’s mythology reflects their real-life brand identity and advertising promises. Just as these technology companies increasingly mediate our relationships with the objects and people within that reality, Lifa does the same for a desired reality. It combines all functions and centralizes all actions in a single interface.

“People have been doing this with technology for decades,” Heidi Campbell, a professor of digital religion at Texas A&M University, told The Daily Beast.. “Whatever your understanding of the spiritual world or the divine world, you usually translate it and put it into technology.”

“Eternity and Freedom”

In this reality, the Lifa application is more modest than the DR version. It is available for free on the Google and Apple app stores, with nearly one million downloads and nearly 100,000 monthly active users. But the app’s developer, Arthur (last name withheld to protect his anonymity), told The Daily Beast that he’s not a changemaker but “more just a creator.”

Arthur first came across it while editing a TikTok post by a user who shared an art board design for a Lifa app. Arthur saw that Lifa did not exist in this reality, but it was an important part of the change and stepped in to “meet a need in the community.”

Every feature of OR Lifa stems from something suggested by the community. “I care deeply about individuals in the community,” Arthur said. “And I want them to enjoy their journeys to these worlds to the fullest extent possible and the comfort and security they provide.”

OR Lifa offers a variety of tools for scripting, through which you can access mock versions of a bank account app or a social media platform and type in your own balance and follower count.

OR Lifa could be understood as “a vehicle for belief,” in the words of a shapeshifter who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity. Writing a copy of what your phone might look like in DR will help guide you towards that goal. The same changemaker said that the Lifa app displays “a good manifesto of changing beliefs: eternity and freedom.”

Arthur agrees, saying “charm” [of shifting] It comes from the fact that you can design any world you want, any character you want, and transform that world into a reality where you are free from the restrictions, the judgments and pressures of our operating rooms.” He’s currently working on a new app aimed at a more general audience of “casual creators” who want to create immersive fictional worlds “without the learning curve of writing a book.”

Digital Cheers Bar

In some ways, it is more accurate to talk about “changing communities” rather than “changing communities.” Various subreddits and Discords differ from each other and occasionally fight. Not governed by mods, ShiftTok is a chaotic space that’s difficult to keep track of. But overall, each community is dedicated to helping others on their changing journeys and sharing tips and information. The change may be all about leaving this reality, but through these communities, it seems to be making an impact on lives in this reality.

The most comprehensive psychological research on change is a study published in 2021. Current Psychology, compared it to other “immersive daydreaming apps” and noted that if left unchecked and done responsibly, reality shifting can turn into a form of “maladaptive daydreaming.” There are reports in changing communities of people who cannot stop changing, are stressed by what they encounter in the DR, or use it to escape problems in their original reality. But most changemakers seem to retain control of their practices.

When you enter a Discord dedicated to altering reality (and there are several), you’ll see channels related to things you’d expect, like scripting desired realities. But you’ll also see channels dedicated to board games and conversations about exercise routines. There is no data on the subject, but the community seems to include people from all over the world: most posts are in English or Spanish, and there are many users in online communities who speak second languages.

This practice, which some have criticized as a way to escape reality, actually serves as a way to change the way people experience that reality and helps them find connection. “Everyone wants their digital Cheers bar,” Campbell told The Daily Beast. “It’s a place where everyone knows your name and is happy for you to come.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast’s biggest stories and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and get unlimited access to The Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.