This is not a joke question. I saw a Horizon programme about a year ago about the possibility of time travel, and the last 10 minutes or so were all about the possibility of us being part of a virtual reality programme. Apparently lots of high-level scientists are looking at this seriously. Statistically, the chances of us being "real" as opposed to virtual are actually billions to one against. What do other people think.
I have to say, that I'm a reasonably sensible person - and I was pretty swayed by what they were saying.
2006-07-11 07:10:53 · 22 answers · asked by Hello Dave 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The idea was not aimed at our present technological level with computers but rather where technologically we will be in 100 years time. The idea is that if computers continue to develop at there present rate then they will have the power to offer us the option to play out our own lives at any moment in time and would be able to calculate the consequences of alternate decisions we are faced with. On this basis one individual would have thousands of programmes running just for their life. On this basis the likely hood of us being part of one of these programs is high.
2006-07-11 21:50:10 · answer #1 · answered by Matthew L 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Socrates: One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing...
Depending on what philosophy you follow (conscious or sub consciously) one can come to several conclusions:
1) The only thing we know is ourselves; everything else is outside of our mind and therefore due to the fault of our perceptions cannot be trusted to be whatever reality is. THis is solipsism. As such, there is the possibility that yahoo and indeed you do not actually exist and are just a figment of my imagination; or vice versa; or that i have been unknowingly entered into this consicousness by something like a computer programme etc.
2) Naive realists believe that the world is EXACTLY how they perceive it, fails to take into account the somewhat varied aspect of human perceptions but rules out the fact we're generated by a computer programme.
Neither, of course, goes so far as to suggest just what this thing we call consciousness is...
2006-07-11 07:53:53 · answer #2 · answered by Alex B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watch out that may not be a foolish question !!.. Today they have computers that once programed they can almost think for themselvs..VIRTUAL REALITY, is already here..We right now no but I'll bet that in the not so far furture there will be people who are no more they a computer..LOOK< FEEL and act human only not alive...WANT-T-BET...Computers have and are taking over the world, remember 2000.. Tell you anything ?? Your question is by far not a joke Good Question.. ROB
2006-07-11 07:22:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It all depends on the quality of the virtual environment we are in. The question that must follow though is:..... if we are immersed in a virtual environment, then what is reality outside this environment?
Is it similar? corporeal existence, similar laws of physics? or what? If we return to it upon death, then yes there is life after death. Is this just not another attempt to find religion? Oh and what exactly is "real"... We define it in terms of this reality.. ergo we are real. For now.
2006-07-11 07:26:32 · answer #4 · answered by CJ p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let's say we believe in a supreme being, could be God or some other intelligent being/s at least able to create this universe we're living in and all that's in it including us.
This is more "realistic" than us "generated by computers" because computers are obviously created by Man.
I suggest you read the book "Contact" by the late american astronomer Carl Sagan. It treats this subject on life and creation and our place in the universe only as far as scientific speculation allows rather than being outright fantasy or unbridled fiction.
2006-07-11 07:44:00 · answer #5 · answered by Romeo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question has been addressed by a number of science fiction writers. But in general the concept could be considered as part of the bigger problem about why there is no aliens out there, called Fermi's paradox.
2006-07-11 09:19:48 · answer #6 · answered by kanie_wb 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a strictly INFORMATIONAL sense, if you look at (and understand) quantum mechanics, everything exists as information and probabilities. In a huge sense, we ARE virtual...which was one of the ideas Einstein refused to believe about the revelations of his own equations. But this virtuality IS reality. If you are asking if we are computer programs, no we are not....but the reality of our existence is MUCH stranger.
2006-07-11 07:35:57 · answer #7 · answered by tat2me1960 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What is real? Do you think that is air you are breathing?
Seriously though, it is conceivable when you consider that everything we see, hear, taste, touch, etc., is electrical impulses in our brains. I can imagine technology advancing to the stage where these could be totally synthesised, especially when you consider how fast computer technology has advanced in just the last twenty years.
2006-07-11 07:16:23 · answer #8 · answered by anonymous_dave 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why would some other being (the ones that are making our virtual selves) be any more likely to be real than we are?
I think therfore I am
2006-07-11 07:13:08 · answer #9 · answered by Bors 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you beleive in the theory that the universe is infinite and contains everything that will happen, is happening and can happen at some point in its history, then yes their is a 100% chance of the situation you are describing.
the part of it that is highly unlikely is that out of all these infinities, it is our planet that is the computer simulation.
2006-07-11 07:28:14 · answer #10 · answered by top_cat_1972 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋