Virtual World replacing reality

cliveh · Nov 3, 2012

Will the virtual world one day replace reality and be impossible to escape from?

Nicholas Lindan · Nov 3, 2012

No.

It is a logical impossibility: the 'virtual world' has to be created by people who are very much in the real world.

It is an amusement - on the line from telling stories around the campfire, to reading novels, to movies and on to TV.

Time Magazine - that paragon of intellect - would publish stories "Will people spend their entire lives watching TV?". We don't. We never have.

As your tag-line says: “The contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion, without substitution or imposture, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention” - F. Bacon

Bill Burk · Nov 3, 2012

Nicholas Lindan said:
No.

It is a logical impossibility: the 'virtual world' has to be created by people who are very much in the real world.

It is an amusement - on the line from telling stories around the campfire, to reading novels, to movies and on to TV.

Time Magazine - that paragon of intellect - would publish stories "Will people spend their entire lives watching TV?". We don't. We never have.

We're coming pretty close. It's one of the draws film photography has for me, to be away from the virtual. But, wait. Isn't the photographic image a 'virtual world'?

removed account4 · Nov 3, 2012

hi clive

i live in a virtual world.
i wear one of those weird VR helmuts all day and all night
things look sort of weird-3D like i am in a cartoon
i sometimes take the helmut off,
and its even weirder ...

its much better living in someone else's imagination

bobwysiwyg · Nov 3, 2012

cliveh said:
Will the virtual world one day replace reality and be impossible to escape from?

If it truly did, would it then become "reality?" Dismal thought.

Andy K · Nov 3, 2012

It has been argued we are already living in a simulation:

VII. CONCLUSION

A technologically mature “posthuman” civilization would have enormous computing power. Based on this empirical fact, the simulation argument shows that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero; (2) The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero; (3) The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.
If (1) is true, then we will almost certainly go extinct before reaching posthumanity. If (2) is true, then there must be a strong convergence among the courses of advanced civilizations so that virtually none contains any relatively wealthy individuals who desire to run ancestor-simulations and are free to do so. If (3) is true, then we almost certainly live in a simulation. In the dark forest of our current ignorance, it seems sensible to apportion one’s credence roughly evenly between (1), (2), and (3).
Unless we are now living in a simulation, our descendants will almost certainly never run an ancestor-simulation.

http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html

batwister · Nov 3, 2012

How long before someone mentions Plato's cave?

Stephanie Brim · Nov 3, 2012

I'm assuming that there has been a bit of Neal Stephenson/Tad Williams reading going on?

Bill Burk · Nov 3, 2012

Oh I get to use my favorite quote:

Reality is just reality and anything you say about it is just something you say about it - Jim Moore

jp498 · Nov 3, 2012

cliveh said:
Will the virtual world one day replace reality and be impossible to escape from?

Like "The Matrix" ?

Brian C. Miller · Nov 3, 2012

Ikea has been using rendered kitchens and such in their advertising. There's also quite a few advertising shops that don't use actual photography at all.

Zager and Evans said:
In the year 2525, if man is still alive
If woman can survive, they may find
In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie
Everything you think, do and say
Is in the pill you took today
In the year 4545
You ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes
You won't find a thing to chew
Nobody's gonna look at you
In the year 5555
Your arms hangin' limp at your sides
Your legs got nothin' to do
Some machine's doin' that for you

ntenny · Nov 3, 2012

Andy K said:
It has been argued we are already living in a simulation: (...)

I love it. I see a couple of loopholes (it conflates "ancestor simulations" with "ancestor simulations capable of having subjective experience within them", for instance), but it's a very likable argument.

Culturally, you could argue that the world became significantly virtualized with the widespread availability of television; in the States especially, we moved very quickly into a world where a lot of people's time was occupied by vicariously "experiencing" events in a simulated world. The internet actually seems like a step back towards reality in some ways, since at least the rest of you are more real than Archie Bunker (I think).

In the grand scheme of things, though, unless we're able to virtualize a whole lot of human biology, someone still has to clean the toilets. I think the only way it's possible for humanity to disappear into a complete virtual haze is if we manage to shove off *all* the maintenance of the world onto robots. That story has, of course, been written plenty of times.

-NT

pentaxuser · Nov 3, 2012

A virtual world. Never - Not as long as we ensure that human referees make outrageous decisions in football(soccer) matches. I have just had my faith restored having watched Match of the Day.

pentaxuser

Prof_Pixel · Nov 3, 2012

I think we are well on the way. I'm amazed at how many people need to be plugged-in to the network 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with texting and voice connections. They remind me of the creatures that have been assimilated into the 'Borg Collective' (Star Trek). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)

Mainecoonmaniac · Nov 3, 2012

NO. We're wired for the real world through millions of years of evolution. Get out into the real world, explore, engage your senses and bring a film camera!

Allen Friday · Nov 3, 2012

No. Zapir, the grand overlord, prohibited it when he programmed the current reality.

Freezer · Nov 3, 2012

I find the increasing legitimacy afforded virtual activities to be depressing and generally pathetic. Having grown up in an era (not too long ago) in which the heroes, depending on your ilk, were astronauts, mountain climbers or rock stars, the current focus on online gaming, social networking, and air guitar-type video games seems silly at best. I get that many of the hedonic/psychological benefits of physical activities involving high risk and reward can accrue to someone simulating an activity, but the overwhelming acceptance and promotion of virtual activities over physical activities is confounding. I was at an angel investor event recently in Silicon Valley focused on virtual gaming, and the sight of a roomful of middle aged guys gushing about spending tens of hours a week playing the latest first person shooter game was truly nauseating. It's starting to seem like a foregone conclusion that we will see virtual gaming in the olympics at some point...

Stephanie Brim · Nov 4, 2012

I should probably note that I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk literature, I was an early adopter of digital, and I jumped on the Kindle bandwagon, though not for everything, about a year ago. I've been a gamer for well over 2/3 of my life, and I've been on the internet for more than 1/3 of my life.

It's already pretty hard to escape from. I use the internet to buy my film, look up chemical formulas, talk to other photographers, and show off my work. I use the internet to find knitting patterns, find people to help me when I have knitting issues, find my bare yarn to dye, and get my product out to other knitters. I use the internet to pay my bills, watch TV, and converse with family.

It's just...not horrible to me. I could live without it, but I was very isolated in my small town before the internet. I kind of shudder to think about how I would have turned out as a person if it wasn't for the internet and being able to very quickly get multiple views on various topics. I found it an amazing learning tool, about everything from sexuality to ancient Egyptian history. Having all this knowledge at your fingertips is more powerful than a lot of people realize.

NedL · Nov 4, 2012

Some people are. I stumbled across this flickr set called "anti-social networking" the other day. It would be funny if it weren't so true...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gumanow/sets/72157623564202905/

Virtual World replacing reality

Advertiser

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency