this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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Could you resist a true virtual reality and should you? (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago by Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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Lets assume we develop the capacity to create virtual worlds that are near indistinguishable from the real world. We hook you up into a machine and you now find yourself in what effectively is a paraller reality where you get to be the king of your own universe (if you so desire). Nothing is off limits - everything you've ever dreamt of is possible. You can be the only person there, you can populate it with unconscious AI that appears consciouss or you can have other people visit your world and you can visit theirs aswell as spend time in "public worlds" with millions of other real people.

Would you try it and do you think you'd prefer it over real world? Do you see it as a negative from individual perspective if significant part of the population basically spend their entire lives there?

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[–] Sabata11792@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We literally have no idea and have not figured out a good way to test this.

[–] Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

We do know. Consciousness is what you're experiencing now. Then again general anesthesia is what non-consciousness feels like. Nothing. It by definition cannot be experienced

What we don't know is how to measure it. There's no way to confirm that something is or isn't consciouss

[–] Sabata11792@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We do know. Consciousness is what you’re experiencing now.

That's true from my pov, but I can't really prove it. Its kinda like the biggest "Trust me bro" that we all assume is true.

Not digging into the ethics, just the ideas are fascinating.

[–] Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I agree. The only thing one can be 100% sure of is that they're consciouss themselves