If we have full dive VR would there still be people living in real life apart from poeple who maintain the VR equipment ? I am referring to VR brain implants,BCIs or a VR chip connected to a central Ai computer not VR headsets, googles, etc? I am asking hypothetically since i know that full dive VR is still a while away
I know that we need to eat and drink etc but maybe using life support machines to take care of our bodily functions, also I know we need money, but I am sure we can also make money using VR
If you were to give a rough estimate what percentage of people would stay in the real world instead of using these devices? 25 Percent maybe
People still need nourishment, they still need shelter to be in while being immersed in their VR experiences, providing those things requires machinery that needs to be designed, constructed and built, which needs people educated to do that, which requires teachers, pedagogues, learning facilities etc.
In short, VR sits on top of a terribly long supply chain, so in a way âpeople who maintain the VR equipmentâ is most of civilisation. Because you donât get VR without a civilisation backing it up.
So unless you automate that entire civilisation, VR will remain restricted to the free time people have, while they spend their working hours directly or indirectly contributing to keeping the equipment running. If they donât, there soon will be no VR to experience, at which point theyâll start to deal with real problems, and civilisation will bounce right back.
And if you do manage to automate the entire civilisation, weâre further removed from extinction than we ever were. Because thatâs the kind of economic power that opens up the stars, no questions asked.
In the future, people had become so addicted to a VR Battle Royale type game, they forgot how to engage with other humans. This game put people in control of an actual mech which they controlled from a secure location. Finding and destroying the personâs physical location with your mech was key to winning. Only 1 guy and 1 girl were left. Of course, the game was destroyed and instructions were left in a database on how to get the human race restartedâŚ
Here in the US, most schools now use ChromeBooks. Most kids no longer know how to put pencil to paper. Handwritting is becoming a lost form of communication. The breakdown has already begun. Our children spend more time with devices than with their families. We are already on our way out. I am not against using tech. But, it should be balanced with traditional methods.
About half the worldâs population is considered to be living in poverty, with 30% of the world population in extreme poverty & simply trying to survive.
This therefore probably exludes half the world from a Full Dive VR life & most certainly that lower 30%.
Then comes the large proportion of middle class individuals who could potentially indulge in a part time VR life but still not in anthing close to Full Dive.
Then there are the worldâs elite, who are affluent enough to indulge in such a life as Full Dive VR but are probably very content with the indulgent luxuries of the real world & may not find it as appealing.
Add to this, the people who suffer motion sickness, are incapacitated or sick in some way, or simply arenât interested & it begins to look like only a fraction of the worldâs population would ever be able to exist in a Full Dive VR lifestyle.
Itâs an interesting question though⌠& should the world become 100% self sustaining & automated to the extent that the majority of the humans on earth could live in a Full Dive VR reality, Iâm still pretty sure that the instinctual drive to reproduce, (that has caused our current worldâs overpopulation problems), would still have people wanting ârealâ contact & interactions, keeping the human race from going extinct.
To sum up, things like art keep us connected as humans. We delve into the mind and feelings of others when we look at or read or watch or play through the creations others have made. In a VR world, that connection would be lost. True, people would find a way to express themselves in a virtual world. But, Blender just isnât the same. Too many variables can be altered at the press of a button. I have watched others alter their works because they want it to look and feel the way they think others want it to look and feel. It is no longer theirs once that is done.
So would humans survive full dive VR? Yes. People would find a way but, would they still be truely human?
That was my thought too.
Once a human goes to the extent of having cybernetic implants, (like suggested in the OP), they begin to lose their humanity.
At present, our enhancements are limited to mechanical upgrades to improve our quality of life: spectacles, replacement body parts, insulin pumps, etc.
Once we contain technology that alters our conscience & our living existance is changed, we cross the line of evolving towards something new.
Our DNA will still obviously be human but our identity will be something digital and our medical make-up will include part numbers. At some point we become something elseâŚ
Whoâs to say that we are not already in some permutation of the scenario you 've described? (Especially if there is technology to control what memories you have access to.)
Oh we are definitely being herded like cattle in many ways. Decisions are made on near-sighted information. No one can really see the outcome. That is why I am a huge proponent of also keeping the âold waysâ alongside the ânew waysâ. If NMS could teach a life lesson, it would be, Remember to always have a back-up.
There have always been ways to escape our present reality into something apparently more pleasant and interesting. Opium, heroin, peyote, LSD, alcohol, and the further reaches of religious experience, to name but a few. Some people become so caught up in these experiences that their lives and bodies are destroyed - but most donât.
I suspect fully immersive VR will be no different. There will be those who arenât interested, and those who can take it or leave it. Then there will be a relatively small proportion of people for whom the experience is so attractive that they donât want to leave, and who will withdraw completely from real life if allowed to do so. Those people may well be destroyed - but then, they already are being. You can see them in the shop doorways of any city centre.
Will it cause the extinction of humanity? No. Not a chance.
