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This kind of article bugs me. It's evolution in action. Think of it as speciation: H. sapiens for those that stay, H. cyberneticus for those that go down the
by Vivtek 15y ago
This kind of article bugs me. It's evolution in action. Think of it as speciation: H. sapiens for those that stay, H. cyberneticus for those that go down the rabbit hole. Either way, if you don't want to play - don't play! More world for you! Where's the problem here?
Of course, I'm also looking forward to my property values going up when all you coastal people find your houses a mile offshore, so maybe I'm just excessively phlegmatic to start with.
- AznHisoka 15y agoThe problem is we aren't evolved to handle such stimulation right now. That'll lead to unintended consequences. Just like eating fast foods leads to obesity, and modern loneliness leads to mental diseases. Many a million years from now.. but not now.
- adrianN 15y agoThat's a pretty strong statement. If the simulation is good enough, what part of our reality-honed brains would be uncomfortable with it?
- AznHisoka 15y agoIt's not really a strong statement. I'm saying it will have unintended consequences.. we don't know what they will be, but since it's so drastically different than the conditions we've had, I can't imagine we'll adjust "normally"
- rjknight 15y agoSpeak for yourself. Most people aren't evolved to resist serious strains of flu, but when an epidemic happens the next generation will be those who were. There are probably people who are perfectly capable of adapting to virtual reality worlds right now, just as there are those who can avoid getting obese despite the presence of vastly calorific foods and can avoid mental diseases despite the highly unusual (from a historical perspective) nature of modern society.
- TeMPOraL 15y ago> Most people aren't evolved to resist serious strains of flu, but when an epidemic happens the next generation will be those who were. It's true because diseases kill unprepared and leave only the (more-less) adapted. So far neither obesity nor computer games were successful in killing people on the mass scale fast enough. Also, we're actively engineering the computer games to be as immersing as possible. If a 'resistant generation' pops up, it'll probably at some point engineer addicting games for itself.
- test2754 15y agoObesity and playing games whole day won't kill but could slightly lower physical attractiveness and number of mating occasions.
- onemoreact 15y agoEvolutionary speaking sterilization is as effective as death. And several diseases do reduce fertility which creates evolutionary pressure on par with deaths.
- Vivtek 15y agoSusceptibility to addictive games is what makes us human - if you changed that in us, we wouldn't even be monkeys anymore. Would we be recognizable at all? So yeah, maybe technical society is a nonviable evolutionary pathway in the long run. Why should I care?
- AznHisoka 15y agoYou're right. some people will be. I rather not take my chances personally though. I'm humble enough to not want to fight against 1 million years of fine-tuned evolution.
- Vivtek 15y agoOdd. Do you buy groceries, or are you posting this from your savannah hut? You're fighting a million years of fine-tuned evolution every time you turn on a light, sit in a chair, wear shoes, go to a store or restaurant, take a medicine, use a telephone, watch TV, read a book or magazine (let's not even talk about the Internet), eat potatoes (not like you evolved in the Americas), bake bread, eat baked bread, use money, sleep in a bed, wake up with an alarm, or let your wisdom teeth grow out because you lived past the age of 35. You're so far off your evolutionary track there's simply no reason not to go further.