Virtual reality -> societal collapse

[warpus]

Underpowered, aching, mortal... meh.

You know how people say that a meal you cook yourself is far more enjoyable than something that somebody else has prepared for you?

Of course this isn't true for everyone, cause some people are lousy cooks, and some are just lazy and/or hate it. But if you know what you're doing, and you go through an hour or two preparing something good, it just tastes soooo much better.

Why? If you brought in a professional food taster, he'd probably rip your meal apart and say it's crap.

But it's a similar type of thing as the scenario we're discussing here.. People are going to want to turn to the "real thing", for various illogical reasons.

 

[lovett]

Matrix.

Not really. I'm thinking more along the lines of nasty terrorist groups destroying servers and killing people. Perhaps eventually a revolution or two that tears humanity from virtual reality.

 

[Kerozine]

Star Trek holodecks are not really what I am talking about - besides the fact that it's a scienceless nonsense, it requires actual space.

Matrix-like virtual reality would be much cheaper and more accessible to all kinds of people.

How is the virtual reality you are proposing any different?

 

[eastsidebagel]

Not really. I'm thinking more along the lines of nasty terrorist groups destroying servers and killing people. Perhaps eventually a revolution or two that tears humanity from virtual reality.

You know, that's some good stuff for a Sci-Fi movie or two. Especially the last part.

 

[Luckymoose]

It could be used for other good things too. Like if time compression allow years to be put into months of real time via the VR, you could educate the masses quickly for example. Or it could be something for elderly people to enjoy the remaining years thinking they are in their youth again.

 

[Mise]

Just to put this into perspective, I spend about two-thirds of my waking life on the internet. Probably more.

 

[general_kill]

You know how people say that a meal you cook yourself is far more enjoyable than something that somebody else has prepared for you?

Of course this isn't true for everyone, cause some people are lousy cooks, and some are just lazy and/or hate it. But if you know what you're doing, and you go through an hour or two preparing something good, it just tastes soooo much better.

Why? If you brought in a professional food taster, he'd probably rip your meal apart and say it's crap.

But it's a similar type of thing as the scenario we're discussing here.. People are going to want to turn to the "real thing", for various illogical reasons.

In your scenario, one has to wonder why people eat out at all. How do fast food restaurants flourish when home cooked meals are so delicious? So much more rewarding?

The same reason why people are eating out more is why the hypothetical virtual reality will take over reality. Albeit not completely.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

That is admirable and stupid at the same time (no offense). Very human, I'd say.
I'd like to think I too might look at the machine, say "Screw it!" and go jogging with you. But why, that I still do not know. Maybe it's an evolutionary survival instinct.

Edit: @ general_kill: We'd have anonymous 'donations' and robot nannies.

I think it just feels intuitively wrong (most morality is ultimately intuition anyway). There is something innately important about life to human beings, and VR just seems like anti-life. And I don't mean just our own lives, but life in general.

 

[warpus]

In your scenario, one has to wonder why people eat out at all. How do fast food restaurants flourish when home cooked meals are so delicious? So much more rewarding?

The same reason why people are eating out more is why the hypothetical virtual reality will take over reality. Albeit not completely.

Maybe you're right, because people ARE lazy, but I've noticed a resurgence of home cooking in the last couple years - just look at all the food-related shows on tv and how popular Gordon Ramsey is. Plus, people are watching their wallets these days.. not to mention all the health-this health-that talk. All signs seem to point to that people would like to cook, but are maybe a bit too lazy to actually do it.

Maybe it's just that I'm European and I love to cook from time to time, *shrug*

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

In your scenario, one has to wonder why people eat out at all. How do fast food restaurants flourish when home cooked meals are so delicious? So much more rewarding?

The same reason why people are eating out more is why the hypothetical virtual reality will take over reality. Albeit not completely.

I missed this! Because fast food actually feels more rewarding. It is generally richer with all of those fats, sugars, and sodium-products. I think for most people, the triple cheese from Wendy's (or whatever your personal fave is) is almost irresistible... like an addiction.

 

[Elta]

I missed this! Because fast food actually feels more rewarding. It is generally richer with all of those fats, sugars, and sodium-products. I think for most people, the triple cheese from Wendy's (or whatever your personal fave is) is almost irresistible... like an addiction.

Nah dude, I cook some greasyyyyyyyyyy stuff.

Way better than wendy's. It should be illegal to feed people what I make




Any who, with time compression, forget about it - 1 hour in that last 10 days. 23 hours outside holding down the fort. Hell even 2 hours that seems like 4 hours is an amazing advancement for our free time.


I don't even need the entire real world.
5 pm every night, engage in a medieval battle of 1 million VS 1 million where you feel no pain. And have a massive league. Who will stand shoulder to shoulder with Elta every night, to arms!!!!!!!


Seriously, could be fun.

This is a situation, where you can't really knock it till you try it. But I am willing to say that I wouldn't want to spend more than 8 real world hours a day in it.

 

[Winner]

Considering how much I play WoW, were such an invention to ever become reality, I would never be seen from again.

It wouldn't be so bad in my case... unless they created Europa Universalis scenario in this VR, then I'd sell everything, get myself an IV with nutrients and fluids and never appear in public again

The aches feel good! That is how you know its working.

Perhaps if you could exchange your mortal body for a virtual one at age 55 things would be better. In fact, that is brilliant! Clear the elderly and obsolete out of the best jobs in the workforce (to have for ourselves) and then care for them in cheap, mass produced VR vats.

Bahahaha... oh wait. I might be elderly by this time.

Wait, that's actually a very good idea!

Virtual reality world as a form of retirement! You'd be in some Matrix-like champer which would take care of your body functions, while your mind would spend decades in vast virtual universe. Remember that time would be compressed in the simulation, so the 20-30 years of retirement would feel like centuries.

This is how you can reconcile VR with real world: normally, younger people would have only restricted access in order to prevent them from giving up on real world jobs and pleasures.

 

[Winner]

You know how people say that a meal you cook yourself is far more enjoyable than something that somebody else has prepared for you?

I tested this in practice many times and it's partially true. However it says little about the quality of the food itself. It's about the effort you put into this.

What makes you think that in virtual reality games and scenarios, everything would be given to you on a silver platter?

Why? If you brought in a professional food taster, he'd probably rip your meal apart and say it's crap.

Then I'd shove it down his throat and let him choke. I am very receptive to constructive criticism of my meals Sorry, that was off-topic...

But it's a similar type of thing as the scenario we're discussing here.. People are going to want to turn to the "real thing", for various illogical reasons.

Name one.

I can imagine many "Sims" like VR scenarios - you'd simply live a normal life in VR, just a different one from your real life. You could get a second chance - many people would give it a try and I guess many would realize that they like this virtual life better than they real life. For them, the few hours of relative time they have to spend in real world would be a a necessary evil, something they have to endure to get back to their preffered life.

Some people could even build a CFC village in this virtual world - wouldn't that be more fun than sitting behind a computer typing responses?

 

[Greizer85]

If time could be compressed as you say, what would be the limit of it? Why not compress it almost infinitely, so that one second of RL time would equal hundreds of billions of years in the VR world, effectively granting you immortality?

I am much more sceptical about this than the VR reality as such. How do you compress time with a program? It would have to act like some kind of psychoactive drug, and that would create its own host of problems.

If it could be done, then even the most hard-headed 'realists' would have a hard time resisting... Immortal godhood? Sign me up, please!

 

[Erik Mesoy]

There are probably limits on time compression around the Planck time, or 10^-40 seconds. Past that, you could cheat by running the simulation in steps that take longer units of time.

 

[Winner]

There are probably limits on time compression around the Planck time, or 10^-40 seconds. Past that, you could cheat by running the simulation in steps that take longer units of time.

I think there are more practical limits - neutrons communicate with each other chemically, which means that brain works much slower than a fully electronic computer.

 

[Mise]

It takes a while to orgasm too.

It might be more practical to run the simulation on a computer, and then download the memories into your brain.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Let's just skip the annoying details of simulation and go straight to wireheading.

 

[Nylan]

I'm still with warpus on this one.

Also, if taken literally, your thread title makes no sense. If society collapses, where does the electricity and machinery to run the simulations come from?

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Third World workers, autonomous power plants, power plants run by Third Worlders, etc.