NationStates Jolt Archive

If it were possible to provide stimulus from a machine directly to the sensory perception areas of the brain in such detail as to make said stimuli indistinguishable from reality, does it then become reality?

For that person, yes.

Let's say you're in a tank of stuff like they had in the Matrix, with your head wired up so that you're experiencing what you think is reality.

In your "reality", you are eating a ham sandwich. Yummy.

Now I reach into the tank and turn off your life support.

Reality sets in. Ooops - you're still enjoying that ham sandwich, right up to the moment you perish...

I think the answer is No.

Let's say you're in a tank of stuff like they had in the Matrix, with your head wired up so that you're experiencing what you think is reality.

In your "reality", you are eating a ham sandwich. Yummy.

Now I reach into the tank and turn off your life support.

Reality sets in. Ooops - you're still enjoying that ham sandwich, right up to the moment you perish...

I think the answer is No.

define "life support" as a stimulus of sorts then.

Let's say you're in a tank of stuff like they had in the Matrix, with your head wired up so that you're experiencing what you think is reality.

In your "reality", you are eating a ham sandwich. Yummy.

Now I reach into the tank and turn off your life support.

Reality sets in. Ooops - you're still enjoying that ham sandwich, right up to the moment you perish...

I think the answer is No.

All you knew til the moment of death was the reality fed to you then you'd not notice a thing. To an outside observer it wouldn't be real, but to the person in the box it absolutely would be. All we have to determine reality is our senses.

Now I reach into the tank and turn off your life support.

But, the tank containing the person encased in translucent goo with all sorts of cabling and cordage, is simply the stimuli YOU are receiving from your machine.

Sure, the guy munching the ham sandwich is todt, but he never existed in the first place, except in your mind...

Well, if this is all an elaborate simulation, then by all means go out and commit the crimes you're thinking about.

I'm sure the police will enjoy the explanation.

If it were possible to provide stimulus from a machine directly to the sensory perception areas of the brain in such detail as to make said stimuli indistinguishable from reality, does it then become reality?

this may be a good time to point out that what you feel is reality is just an interpretation made by your brain of a lot of stimuli, and as such is at best a coarse approximation of reality...

by the way, is a blind person's reality a world where no light exists?

Well, if this is all an elaborate simulation, then by all means go out and commit the crimes you're thinking about.

I'm sure the police will enjoy the explanation.
Just because this world is a delusion of my painfully warped and imprisoned mind doesn't mean that I should attempt to make said delusion unpleasant.
Certainly, if given the choice, you would prefer a "good" dream to a nightmare, right? So do I.

If it were possible to provide stimulus from a machine directly to the sensory perception areas of the brain in such detail as to make said stimuli indistinguishable from reality, does it then become reality?That depends on your definition of reality.
And of course on whether the person knows this is happening to him. Even if the stimuli are indistinguishable from reality does not mean he believes it is reality.

Depends on how you define reality.

For that person, yes.
I disagree. Just because it's indistinguishable from reality doesn't make it reality.

Reality exists objectively. Otherwise the term "reality" becomes meaningless.

I disagree. Just because it's indistinguishable from reality doesn't make it reality.

Reality exists objectively. Otherwise the term "reality" becomes meaningless.
Either way you've said it "reality" becomes meaningless, as there is no way for humans to obtain a direct and objective view of the Universe.

Yawn. This question is boring. Really? What does it matter?

Either way you've said it "reality" becomes meaningless, as there is no way for humans to obtain a direct and objective view of the Universe.
Doesn't mean it's not there. We may not every be sure we've seen it, but the thing still exists.