If life is whats perceived by the mind, seen or not seen, can a "virtual life" be reality?
Psychiatrist Dr. Stephan Quentzel stated that “Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far.”
Would you know the difference?
People believe in fantasy. People believe in myths. People believe in dreams. We are well aware of potentials in our universe.
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Believe it or not, everything we perceive around us is “virtual.” Our brains receive a visual and audio data stream from our senses. And our motor functions manipulate the same environment that our senses transmit to our brain. In other words, our brains could very well be in a jar and our senses and motor functions interfaced to an uber-high-resolution 3D virtual world and we wouldn’t know.
Yes, just not a shared reality.
As one feels alive in dreams, so one might in a virtual reality as long as one’s physical body remained sleeping, comfortable, nourished, and evacuated.
When we need things of this physical world, even a toilet, we would be forced out of the virtual world. And most of us would then feel a need for contact with others.
No, it is not reality. It does not have a lot of the aspects of real life that are so very important.
Fist, it has no touch. Actual touch is a vital aspect of life.
Secondly, it does not have body language, which is a really important part of our unspoken communication.
Third, it does not have all of the elements of reality. In virtual reality, people don’t go to the bathroom, or smell, or all of the inconveniences of corporeal being. In virtual reality relationships, people don’t deal with the realities of life: work, finances.
In virtual relationships, all that you show is what you want to present not your whole self.
Isn’t this essentially the existence posited by The Matrix?
@andrew – Right on! Let’s hope we’re not all living in pods being used by an evil machine and that our world isn’t just a vast virtual reality…
@anartist Surely thats just a limitation of current technology. VR can be hooked up to have interaction, at least once people solve the bandwidth problem.
@marinelife On touch – I agree… I can imagine something that stimulates the brain but than we’re moving into a different kind of VR.
On body language – again, we may be able to get around that. E.g. if the VR includes some sort of body suit (or just an external camera with some good machine vision behind it).
On the other stuff – if someone really wanted VR to replace real life, these things could be added.
So I’d say current VR can’t replace real life, but in the future, I don’t see why not.
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