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Would a Virtual Paradise be Ideal?

Cognisant

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Over the last couple of decades and particularly in the last few years people have been increasingly digitizing the world, recording as much as possible, building ever more complex and expansive simulations, even our cultures are increasingly digital.

It seems inevitable that we will forgo reality for a "superior" virtual equivalent, especially as improving technology makes these virtual realities ever more real to our senses, but could a seemingly perfect simulation really be better than reality?

Indeed does a virtual paradise even need to be realistic?
If anime is anything to go by we seem to have ideals that exceed what's physically possible, the impossibly large eyes of many characters for instance.
 

nexion

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So you mean, like the Matrix, but not even realism need be a part of the simulation?

I don't see why it couldn't be, or shouldn't be. Where is the inherent value in existing only in the "real" world, or of thinking as phenomenal reality as the highest or only reality?

What would make a simulation "better" than "reality" any less meaningful or worthy of consideration? You are throwing out all of these entirely subjective terms without stopping even to qualify them within your own terms, let alone terms which may be considered universal, or, if you prefer, real.
 

Vrecknidj

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I think empirical experiences will reveal that there are different "better" experiences for different people. I expect this will be monetized heavily.
 

Cognisant

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So we all seem to think a virtual paradise would be pretty sweet regardless of whether the experiences within it are legitimately real or not, well case closed I guess.
 

Auburn

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I recently had a conversation with my brother, a sensationalist and realist, who argues he'd never be able to obtain the same meaningfulness from a digitized reality as he does from this raw, tactile, nuanced world.

There's so much I can imagine happening at the advent of hyper-realistic VR.

I think that sensationalists/realists are gonna remain a prominent group of our species as they always have, so I don't see all of us entirely getting lost in a self-decided Ideal.

I think, running parallel to our advances in virtual reality, we'll have more natural augmentation of our bodies. Such as higher-definition eyes, microscopic vision, infrared sensory organs, echolocation, radio/UV wave identification. I think doors will open for us to explore "actual" reality with more richness too, and there is something captivating about exploring the unknown Universe that may never leave our intrigue.

Whereas, at least for a while longer, virtually-created spaces will be finite in what they can teach us about the universe because they won't quite model the universe the way it exists outside. It can only be modeled as accurately as the threshold of our understanding goes, but no further. To go further, and thus to make VR more comprehensive, we still need to explore physical reality.

In this sense, the VR world will never be wholly satisfactory to those who are curious seekers of new truths. Because part of our desire, as a species, is finding that truth and we are not fulfilled without satiating that pursuit.
 
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