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This is stunning, but scary. Even if my descendants survive plagues, nuclear war, climate change and malevolent AI's, they might not have a chance against the

This is stunning, but scary. Even if my descendants survive plagues, nuclear war, climate change and malevolent AI's, they might not have a chance against the allure of these simulated worlds.

stjo 6y ago
underrated comment
lotyrin 6y ago
On the other hand, I think this probably is the least-scary answer to the mystery of the great filter.
- keenmaster 6y ago
  If there are other civilizations out there, I think we’re more likely to be visited by super-intelligent AI than we are to meet their creators. Think of a small sentient spaceship going the speed of light with a million IQ hive of replicators on board. They wouldn’t have to bother about life preservation or oxygen or any of that noise. Their creator species would stay in their galaxy until their AI finds another ideal planet to colonize, or they could be dead and their legacy lives on in the AI. The existence of extraordinarily compelling virtual worlds wouldn’t have much of an impact in my opinion.
remir 6y ago
If these graphics are impressive today, imagine what will be possible in 500 years. We'll hit a point where simulated worlds will be indistinguishable from the real world. But then, if simulated worlds can reach this level of fidelity, that means we could be in such a world right now and there would be no way to know it.
pradn 6y ago
We've had super fun & addicting games for quite a while now, and, though gaming is not a niche interest anymore, a good chunk of the population prefers to do other things, like watch TV. If anything, the fear of alluring entertainment sapping people's will to do other things is borne out with television. The average American watches something like 5 hours of TV a day. That's just incredible. In my mind, switching from that to video games is a lateral move - you gain the sociability of video games, but lose out on the often more complex stories of television. (Great video games get up to the level of prestige TV, but most have narratives only as good as basic cable.)
- zarkov99 6y ago
  I believe the amount of time adults spend on video games has been growing fairly fast relationship to tv. At least for younger men.

This is stunning, but scary. Even if my descendants survive plagues, nuclear war, climate change and malevolent AI's, they might not have a chance against the allure of these simulated worlds.

stjo 6y ago

underrated comment

lotyrin 6y ago

On the other hand, I think this probably is the least-scary answer to the mystery of the great filter.

keenmaster 6y ago
If there are other civilizations out there, I think we’re more likely to be visited by super-intelligent AI than we are to meet their creators. Think of a small sentient spaceship going the speed of light with a million IQ hive of replicators on board. They wouldn’t have to bother about life preservation or oxygen or any of that noise. Their creator species would stay in their galaxy until their AI finds another ideal planet to colonize, or they could be dead and their legacy lives on in the AI. The existence of extraordinarily compelling virtual worlds wouldn’t have much of an impact in my opinion.

remir 6y ago

If these graphics are impressive today, imagine what will be possible in 500 years. We'll hit a point where simulated worlds will be indistinguishable from the real world. But then, if simulated worlds can reach this level of fidelity, that means we could be in such a world right now and there would be no way to know it.

pradn 6y ago

We've had super fun & addicting games for quite a while now, and, though gaming is not a niche interest anymore, a good chunk of the population prefers to do other things, like watch TV. If anything, the fear of alluring entertainment sapping people's will to do other things is borne out with television. The average American watches something like 5 hours of TV a day. That's just incredible. In my mind, switching from that to video games is a lateral move - you gain the sociability of video games, but lose out on the often more complex stories of television. (Great video games get up to the level of prestige TV, but most have narratives only as good as basic cable.)

zarkov99 6y ago
I believe the amount of time adults spend on video games has been growing fairly fast relationship to tv. At least for younger men.