X-Message-Number: 5328 From: Peter Merel <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Falling Off Cliffs Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 02:26:26 +1100 (EST) Thought a bit more about Thomas Donaldson's posting ... Thomas cites Saul Kent's suggestion that there is an empirical difference between virtual reality and real reality; in real reality, walk off a cliff and you're dead. But of course that could be done in a virtual reality too; just model the forces realistically. But in point of fact you don't even need modern technology for "virtual" reality to kill people. There are documented cases of people dying from the placebo effect of a pointed bone. There are countless instances of people sacrificing themselves and others to placate "virtual" deities. This is what I mean when I say that reality is already virtual. You build a model in your head; that model is based upon your experience. If your experience derives from some kind of technology, or whether it derives from some prosaic process, or even from faith, that doesn't in itself necessarily invalidate the model. So I don't understand the distinction you're trying to draw. -- mailto: | Accept Everything. | http://www.zip.com.au/~pete/ | Reject Nothing. | Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5328