Thursday, April 2, 2015

Blog Post 4

The question of entertainment is generally pretty easy to answer. If something can rejuvenate you without later detracting from real world experiences or creating an addiction, it seems to be a pretty good thing. Those requirements have to be looked at honestly in each individual circumstance, but it would be hard to argue against an entertainment wherein each was satisfied.

I can imagine those requirements being blurred in the future. Imagine a virtual reality system indistinguishable from our real world. How can we say that living in the real world is better than living in the virtual one? Now imagine that the real world has no way to employ the vast majority of the populace because nearly every job has become cheaper to implement with a machine, including decision-making jobs typically thought impossible for them (this will happen long before realistic virtual reality). Say the virtual reality has a fulfilling job for everyone. The food tastes better. There are no physical risks. You can meet people similar to you or very different from you at your whim, at any time, and immediately. This means relationships could become richer than reality in the virtual world. Empirically, the people who tend to spend most of their time in the virtual world become healthier and happier without exception. Wouldn't it become unethical to discourage people from living in the virtual world?

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