There are plenty of techno-optimistic takes on virtual worlds. They will offer us opportunity for new and exciting experiences, as real as reality, it is said. But what about the costs? In a talk from the conference Philosophy in Virtual Reality at the Institute for Futures Studies, James Ladyman, professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol, addresses the many downsides of virtual worlds of the future, and the actual digital lives we already live.
How powerful tech-companies reshape our culture, norms and social life, and how this will be enhanced as virtual worlds become more common. And existance in virtual reality will be, as James Ladyman puts it, "completely owned, and completely surveilled, and controlled by algorithms that has goals that are not the same as yours."
This talk, as well as the whole conference, took as a starting point the new book Reality+ by philosopher David Chalmers, where he explores philosophical questions raised by virtual worlds.
Se David Chalmers' presentation here: • David Chalmers: From t...
Notes:
The co-author of the book Merchants of Doubt is Erik M Conway, not Eric Baker. More information on the book here: www.merchantsofdoubt.org/
The term ‘digital enclosures’ comes from sociology specifically Mark Andrejevic, an associate professor at the University of Iowa: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...