A porn and violence matrix

[Amorphos]

A porn and violence matrix

After watching caprica [battlestar galactica prequel] recently I got to thinking about the ethics of a virtual world which offers little if any difference to our everyday world. If you imagine something like the internet and all other media all rolled into a virtual space, would the ethics be different if the illusion was more real! For example; if you could experience something that connects to all the senses and not just the visual, then would porn and violence like what we get on the net and in films etc, would it be less acceptable? Would people find it hard to distinguish reality and illusion, if so what does this say about varying degrees of illusion, even in terms of what we have now?

Or would it simply be acceptable for us to experience any illusion we want to? [*gasps at the potentials*] I guess the key is in the mind being able to realise the dichotomy between reality and illusion, even if there is little difference. I personally don’t think some people are very capable of this.

[Arch-hereticK]

Woaaaaaaah.

[Monarchist]

I would rather not contemplate such impossibilities. My mind is fine on the simple Earth God has given me.

[Amorphos]

I would rather not contemplate such impossibilities. My mind is fine on the simple Earth God has given me.

I am afraid such things are not so far away, certainly not impossible. Maybe we wont create a virtual world with quite as powerful impact on the mind as reality, however we must remember that our intimacy with the real world is entirely dependant on physical connections within the brain, and the input can potentially be replicated [perhaps entirely].

Certainly there will be levels of increased depth in the future, hence the ethical implications of those are relavent, then we may also ask if once we agree on points concerning such implications, how does that affect our current moral understanding!

god gave us an incredible tool; the mind. i am afraid it will get used, so there is no use hiding from it.

[Helm]

They would most likely ban anything like a life like virtual simulation of GTA or Custers Revenge or anything of that nature, purely because it may encourage that behaviour in real life.

[Lupu]

wow...
Sorry, I show no interest like... at all except for how horrible the thought of a virtual reality is.

[Helm]

I'm kind of missing the mind blowing concept here, reality is only an illusion formed inside our brains based on stimulation of some description anyway. It can real physical stimulation, stimulation within the brain itself in the form of hallucinations or dreams or it can can be a technological VR kind of thing. Though it's important to distinguish which one is which.

[Lupu]

I'm kind of missing the mind blowing concept here, reality is only an illusion formed inside our brains based on stimulation of some description anyway. It can real physical stimulation, stimulation within the brain itself in the form of hallucinations or dreams or it can a technological VR kind of thing. Though it's important to distinguish which one is which.

Since when were you a nihilist?
I'm talking about pure self-betrayal at the highest grade, does nothing more matter to you than your thoughts, and the "illusion" you live in?

[Helm]

Since when were you a nihilist?

What we consciously perceive is processed within our brains based on the stimulation of our sense organs, that's just the scientific fact of how it works.

This is quite interesting.

[Arch-hereticK]

What we consciously perceive is processed within our brains based on the stimulation of our sense organs, that's just the scientific fact of how it works.

That only challenges our pre-conception of what reality is, it doesn't dispute the actual existence of reality.

[Helm]

That only challenges our pre-conception of what reality is, it doesn't dispute the actual existence of reality.

When we're awake we're still essentially dreaming, only the dream is based on information processed by our sense organs.

[Amorphos]

They would most likely ban anything like a life like virtual simulation of GTA or Custers Revenge or anything of that nature, purely because it may encourage that behaviour in real life.

Indeed, and that brings into question the ethics involved in our current illusion [such games, films etc]. if we agree such a virtual reality would be dangerous, then surely less real versions are incrementally dangerous?

I'm kind of missing the mind blowing concept here, reality is only an illusion formed inside our brains based on stimulation of some description anyway. It can real physical stimulation, stimulation within the brain itself in the form of hallucinations or dreams or it can can be a technological VR kind of thing. Though it's important to distinguish which one is which.

You bring up a fine point there, that there may be a point where we cannot distinguish between the two. One has to wonder just how much we can distinguish between these things anyway, after all the senses are being given information even in films, games etc, yet we are real and take all input as being real. It is only by making the distinction that we can separate ourselves from such illusions. I think most people can make the distinction with ease at least consciously, yet our subconscious brains may not make the same degree of distinction. Youth in particular are susceptible to influences from the media, we have seen horrific consequences to this recently.

What we consciously perceive is processed within our brains based on the stimulation of our sense organs, that's just the scientific fact of how it works.

Exactly! It is fully plausible that such stimuli can be simulated entirely.

Did you see the show ‘caprica’? the question was asked as to what is a person, when every aspect can be mimicked! Very interesting notion I think, though I wonder is an absolute representation of us, would still be a puppet.

I’ll take a look at the vid tomorrow, looks interesting.

[Lupu]

What we consciously perceive is processed within our brains based on the stimulation of our sense organs, that's just the scientific fact of how it works.

This is quite interesting.

I get you point, but you wouldn't agree that a dream is reality would you?
I really don't like discussing this kind of stuff, it makes my head hurt and is pointless, I'm alive, for a dream to exist I need to live=reality is NOT a dream.

[Arch-hereticK]

I get you point, but you wouldn't agree that a dream is reality would you?
I really don't like discussing this kind of stuff, it makes my head hurt and is pointless, I'm alive, for a dream to exist I need to live=reality is NOT a dream.

How do you know it's not the other way around. Dreaming while asleep = reality and life = a dream

[Helm]

I get you point, but you wouldn't agree that a dream is reality would you?
I really don't like discussing this kind of stuff, it makes my head hurt and is pointless, I'm alive, for a dream to exist I need to live=reality is NOT a dream.

It may exist but you're essentially watching a little TV screen inside your head, light is just radiation and sound ripples in the air but once processed in our brain all these things form our own VR world.

[Bovril]

Time and time again we come back to the same thing. How do we ground the other in active being. This, I claim, is a matter of faith. To respect the other as autonomous and valuable is a matter of faith which creates what is known in the Christian tradition as the neighbour. The neighbour is the other (autonomous self) that by its very being presses in on us with its claims to acknowledgement, respect, and worst of all, love. If everything around us is virtual there is no other and no neighbour. This is the great solopsistic fantasy. But let us examine the subtext of this fantasy. It is not that the other is not existent, merely that we can utterly and totally ignore the other. But we are always confronted by the other, and our responsibility to the neigbour. This is the strucutre of reality. Solopsism is the fantasy of escape from this condition.

[Lupu]

How do you know it's not the other way around. Dreaming while asleep = reality and life = a dream

Sorry, you threw me off, I'm not interested in that question, it's infinite.

It may exist but you're essentially watching a little TV screen inside your head, light is just radiation and sound ripples in the air but once processed in our brain all these things form our own VR world.

And that'e exactly why I hate the thought, unmatched and complete self betrayal, on what plane of existence do you live? Escapism is scary enough as it is.

[Arch-hereticK]

Sorry, you threw me off, I'm not interested in that question, it's infinite.

It's not infinite. Infinite is something with unbounded boundaries.
It's closer to afinite, unknown boundaries, which of course will never be found if we don't investigate them.

So you'll have to forgive me if I find your lack of curiosity curious in of itself.

[chamaeleo]

The ethics of "virtual" worlds already influence reality. Just look at the effects that the evening news has on society, instilling irrational levels of paranoia in Americans. There's like a 1 in 1000 chance of being involved in a home invasion, yet thanks to the nightly reports about 500 / 1000 Americans stash a loaded gun and fully expect to someday use it on some greasy, drug-addled perp with a crowbar. Sure, burglaries are definitely part of reality, but our perception of their occurence rate is completely off the charts!

Hell, TWC is a good example of a virtual community of folks who'd treat each other completely different in person...under real-world conditions, where people's reactions to your behavior actually have tangible implications for you. "I've" shredded people's opinions in ways unimagible to the dude who's typing this out. My TWC persona can, admittedly, be a dick...

[Amorphos]

I agree chamaeleo, it was funny when I was on my village forum and people have the typical forum attitude, then I saw them walking down the street and they couldn’t look at me.