Is Your Life in a Vat?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Philosopher David Chalmers says that even if I am in a Matrix, my world is perfectly real. In his new book Reality Plus, Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy, he shares his conclusions. Dave posits that within a century, we will have virtual realities that are indistinguishable from the non-virtual world. If we want to retain a sense of meaning and purpose and humanity as we make this transition, then we need to start thinking about it now.

Last year, Rufus sat down with philosopher David Chalmers to talk about the allure of virtual reality, whether robots will ever achieve consciousness, and the likelihood that we’re living in a simulation (David thinks it’s about 25 percent). It was a fascinating, freewheeling conversation, and we left large chunks of it on the cutting room floor. Now, though, with ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms taking the world by storm, those unaired sections, many of which were about the ethics of artificial intelligence, feel super relevant. So today, we’re sharing our complete interview with David. Buckle up. It’s a wild ride.