I think that people haven't thought very deeply about what kinds of minds there would be in the virtual world. You can always try to mock up a simulation of hunger and thirst and bodies, et cetera, and try to make it as human as possible. But would you want to do that? I don't know. Maybe that's just a bad idea. And you could come up with a better system. So I am not sure that the TV slash movie slash novel idea that we human beings are going to basically transport ourselves more or less into a virtual realm is the right way of thinking about it.
Welcome to the October 2022 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number — based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good — and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!
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