Karl Feuerstake
Senior Member
Listen to this debate between a human and IBM Project Debater about preschool funding. Jump at 24:00 for PD response if you're short on time but the whole thing was fascinating to me when I first saw it.
Watched some of it today and found it interesting, but I am not a believer in 'strong AI', at least not at the moment.
I'd like to continue our discussion of simulation vs. reality but must openly express some anxiety towards the topic; it may not be healthy for me to continue, as perhaps my knowledge may be only enough for it to be 'dangerous'. Nonetheless I will try to have some courage as maybe I will learn something.
My particular anxiety comes from this: in the past I suffered a psychotic break, largely brought on by severe sleep deprivation, and this nearly resulted in my death. This is a considerable source of panic for me because my perceptions of what was real were so severely distorted, so any risk that I might alter my perception of reality gives raise to considerable anxiety. Nonetheless, I will go on related to the topic.
For such a discussion to take place, it should probably relate some kind of meaning behind those two words (simulation, reality); that they be considered distinct from each other. My own understanding is that simulation is something which artificially attempts to illustrate or approximate reality, without genuinely being real in and of itself. An example might be how in the film The Matrix, the majority of people live in a computer simulation, but we as an audience are shown humans living outside it, and given a perspective as to how a transition between simulation and reality might occur. In the film, it seems like a believable enough mechanic that could potentially be executed in our world.
Hopefully we have now established some kind of meaning behind the key terms, and next I will try to take a page out of the book of Nick Batzdorf; that is, to ask you some questions rather than (as I have been prone to in the past) bluntly espouse my own view:
What kind of meaning can we derive from the idea that all our current "reality" is actually just a "simulation"? Is there any proof to suggest this is the current order of affairs? What consequences should or will this hold for our lives? Are the consequences different whether there is proof or not?
I'm sure there are some other very good questions that could be asked but these are the most immediate on my mind.
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