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Except we don't even know if we are living in "actual reality". We could already be living in a reality simulation. (Sorry for the overused argument, but I thi

Except we don't even know if we are living in "actual reality". We could already be living in a reality simulation. (Sorry for the overused argument, but I think it fits here. If we cannot ever decipher our constructed virtual reality from our current reality, why would we prefer one to another? Furthermore, there is no point to our current "reality", so how would a virtual world be different?) Also any other version of visualization other than a perfect and indistinguishable (that makes it perfect in the definition of mirroring reality) constructed virtual reality is pointless to argue about. In your other reply, you mention issues with isolationism and being able to see the physical world. When the virtual reality is equivalent to the physical world, is this connection to physical reality necessary?

eli_gottlieb 12y ago
>Except we don't even know if we are living in "actual reality". We could already be living in a reality simulation. No, we know damn well that our current reality works based on fixed physical laws. You can't change something's color in reality by altering its texture-map, and you know that everything in reality which looks like an object is an object, while everything that looks like a person is a person. >When the virtual reality is equivalent to the physical world, is this connection to physical reality necessary? ... Yes. In the exact same way that it is sometimes necessary to unplug your laptop, leave your cubicle, and go outdoors. For one thing, however much you might like your cubicle (read: "virtual reality"), it is ontologically dependent on outdoors (read: real life). Or you could be walking along in virtual reality one day, enjoying the nice simulated weather from your upgraded Navier-Stokes package, when you neatly wink out of existence because a squirrel back in real life chewed the wrong cable.

eli_gottlieb 12y ago

>Except we don't even know if we are living in "actual reality". We could already be living in a reality simulation. No, we know damn well that our current reality works based on fixed physical laws. You can't change something's color in reality by altering its texture-map, and you know that everything in reality which looks like an object is an object, while everything that looks like a person is a person. >When the virtual reality is equivalent to the physical world, is this connection to physical reality necessary? ... Yes. In the exact same way that it is sometimes necessary to unplug your laptop, leave your cubicle, and go outdoors. For one thing, however much you might like your cubicle (read: "virtual reality"), it is ontologically dependent on outdoors (read: real life). Or you could be walking along in virtual reality one day, enjoying the nice simulated weather from your upgraded Navier-Stokes package, when you neatly wink out of existence because a squirrel back in real life chewed the wrong cable.