I am about 1/4 done reading Chalmers’ new book “Reality+” and so far I like it. While I may dislike FB, I am a huge fan of Oculus VR gear, and I helped setup a

I am about 1/4 done reading Chalmers’ new book “Reality+” and so far I like it. While I may dislike FB, I am a huge fan of Oculus VR gear, and I helped setup a VR lab at SAIC about 25 years ago, so I am a fan of the technology but not a current expert. I think that high quality immersive VR will be useful, lots of fun, and transformative - as long as it is used sparingly. For myself, I feel comfortable using one of my Oculus devices two or three times a day for about 5 or 6 minutes a session. Sometime, like when getting a new volume in the Star Wars Vader Immortal trilogy, my play sessions would be 30 minutes. My point is, good VR can be great, if used in moderation. I live about 75 meters from a national forest trailhead, and even a 10 minute walk in nature is a great way to round out a short VR session. I am horrified, however, to think of people spending many hours at a time in VR or augmented reality. Nope. Off topic, but even though I have only had one good talk with Chalmers in person, I feel some personal connection because he got his PhD with the same advisor as my friend Pei Wang, and he clashed professionally with my childhood friend Tony Brueckner (who, until he died, was chairman of the philosophy department at UCSB). I find that my enjoyment of reading books increases if I have met and talked with the author. This argues against the meta verse :-)