From: E. Shaun Russell (e_shaun@uniserve.com)
Date: Fri Sep 06 1996 - 22:54:12 MDT
On September 6 1996, Nadia wrote:
> If we are bad they won't let us live, but they might let us
>virtually live ... hmmm, that raises some interesting anthropological
>questions, don't you think? Would we be "prisoners?" Maybe if we were
>REALLY good VR models, they might let us go back into RR - it reminds me of
>the show The Prisoner - every time he tried to leave the village.....
Even worse...will we be able to distinguish what is REALLY real from
what is VIRTUALLY real? Should VR even be classified as a form of reality?
Talk about wheels within wheels; in this case it's *reals within reals!*
I find this topic *very* intriguing. If we lose grip with our reality, what
do we have to hold on to then?
Once man enters a computer, he forfeits the life that he *knows* is
real. The false beauty of a virtual world can easily overwhelm any mortal
(yes, we are all still mortal) person. Once a person gets lost within all
the colours of virtuality, would that person want to return to the more real
world outside the computer's shell? One trillion seperate hues in a virtual
world are potentially far more beautiful than the ones that are found in the
real world.
If a person were to get so wrapped up in virtuality that he forgot
what reality truly was, who can save him? He would be so accustomed to
virtuality that reality would appear a vague semblance of what his virtual
reality was. To be taking a person who is accustomed to virtuality OUT of
virtuality would be like putting a person accustomed to reality into the
first dimension. Horrific.
The scariest question of all is whether or not numbers can make a
substantial reality. Is virtual reality truly real? If so, what exactly is
the meaning of reality? Can there be a bona fide existance within a
5-cubic-foot encasement? Can there be life within what another man created?
*Should* there be life within what another man created? Can it even be
classified as life?
These are all very hypothetical, anthropological questions, but they
are also very valid. I've never been one to fear progress, but here's
another question: is it progress? Or is it regress?
-E. Shaun Russell
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"The only limit to man, is man himself"
-E.S. Russell
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