Alternate reality technology, should there be safeguards?
Is it better to be happy or to be free?
Some say ignorance is bliss. Some say freedom is the opposite of security. They put the question: would you rather have freedom or security. Rarely do we get the question would you rather be happy or free? Technology is developing in such a way that we could choose to go into the matrix. What I mean is, we could build a virtual or altered reality tailored for each participant. The question is would you as a participant rather have that reality modeled after facts, science, truth, or would it be better to have it be modeled on faith, belief, and post-science narratives?
Alternate reality technology will allow for entire "universes" to be overlayed on top of our current reality. Alternate reality technology goes beyond Pokemon GO. It goes beyond memetics. It's potentially a shared reality between participants. The question to ask or which few are asking is what could go wrong? Could this alternate reality technology replace religion as we know it? Could alternate reality technology evolve into what some currently consider as "cults"? If you had to direct this technology how would you do it? Would you put any safeguards in place?
An accurate model of reality is important if you want to be free and wise
I would suggest that a prerequisite for being free is to at minimum be in pursuit of wisdom. If wisdom is based on the accuracy of your model (from which you make your predictions) then to always be in pursuit of a more accurate model is what I would consider pursuit of wisdom. In physics we have the standard model and we have physicists who do experiments (collecting and analyzing data) to prove whether or not what they observe matches what the standard model predicts. There are other models as well; for instance psychology offers behaviorism which states there is no such thing as free will and that all animal behavior (all behavior) are responses to stimuli in the environment.
Behaviorism is the most successful model of behavioral psychology. It offers us a mechanism for how to teach (operant conditioning, classical conditioning) which works all animals who have a nervous system. This systemic approach to understanding animal behavior is highlighted by the Skinnerbox which proves in experiment that behaviorism predicts behavior. If behaviorism can predict behavior then we can ask the question of whether or not there is free will. Behaviorism itself does not definitively answer that question but according to the standard model of physics there is no free will unless it exists at the particle level. So if you do believe you have free will then the particles which make you up must also have free will, but from what we know about classical physics the universe is deterministic. Quantum physics is less clear, but we know the standard model is correct and we have reason to believe behaviorism is also correct.
Meta gaming seems like the next things around. This is the control of ones particular relation in the society.
These alternate is best in an individuals comfort zone. Religion, culture and sort should be allowed to be at the affairs mainly. But these factors may not be backed by science.
As individuals we have our values and our own realities. This may not flow with science. How then will that behavior be exhibited?
Meta gaming involves using out of game experience to affect in-game decisions
Thanks for educating, some terms used here I haven’t come across or not familiar with, thanks for impacting knowledge.
This is some deep one, this is quite a topic on its on.
Well if someone pose that question to me, I'm sure to pick freedom, if you are free definitely cannot be compromised. What is the essence of security when the freedom is compromised.
This make me remember the psychology of adjustment back in college days, human cannot be put into test because they fake behavior compare to animal. Just like the driving force which is stimulus.
impressive lines
This is very interesting article. I won't pretend to have the answers to this complex issue. Clearly some safe guards would make sense to prevent corruption, hacking, etc...but who would be creating those safe guards? If it were just one person, then you'd be creating a form of dictator.
Nice one
I you say alternate reality, are you assuming a single real reality? What makes you or anyone believe that such thing exists?
First of all, everybody has his/her own reality based on the way how he grew up, his believes, how he learned e.g. definitions of colors (red is for everybody a slightly different color, right?), numbers (some tribes just don´t have names for higher numbers, so they don´t exist for them), you get the point.
So such technology would not be fundamentally different from taking the perspective from another person, but of course could go far beyond that, e.g. if introducing items not existing in our universe.
I like the idea.
I like also the idea, that we all are already in an alternate reality, e.g. that we all are only part of a dream of some "higher" being, and if that being awakens, we all and our dream world would be gone. Let´s hope he stays asleep and let´s not do too crazy staff that could make him awake...