Yup, it's from me :)
> > > There would also be a group of people who would be thinking "Hmmm, OK,
> we're
> > > inside this virtual world, generated by a computer. Can we do any of
> the
> > > following:
>
> I've created simulations populated by virtual beings who weren't smart
> enought to contemplate these questions (having only a few dozen neurons)
> but here is how I would answer for them:
Are these programmes available anywhere on the net to be downloaded? I'd
be interested to see them. The most advanced I've ever seen (and this is
underwhelming, I gaurantee) is the Clife screen saver I've got, which runs as
far as something like: If there's a cell by itself, it dies. If there's a
cell surrounded by 4+ other cells, it dies. If there is 1 or 2 cells next to
an empty cell, that empty cell remains so. If there's an empty cell surrounded
by 3 cells, then it comes to life. All very exciting for a 12 year old boy,
but that was last year :) and I'd love to see more.
>
> > > 1) Escape into the 'real' world?
>
> Possible, but it would require outside intervention to "upload" them
> into, say, a real robot.
I was considering the possibility of us all being real people, just
plugged into this world. Therefore you wouldn't need to be uploaded
into a robot, as you would already have a body to use.
Now I consider the possibility, though, of us all being entirely virtual,
it's quite good.
>
> > > 2) Move into other virtual worlds if they exist?
>
> Again, possible, with outside intervention (deus cut'n'paste) or if
> the world was created with conduits to other worlds (like Tom Ray's
> proposed distributed Tierra system).
Could you have moved your virtual people into other "worlds"? Does the
world have to be specifically geared to support them, or can it be totally
alien, like dropping them into a game of Sonic the Hedgehog :0
>
> > > 3) Change the programme for our own world?
>
> Only if the world was set up that way. In a sense they already do to
> the extent that they are not really separate from the simulation, so
> everything they do changes the program (by, for instance, depleting
> resources or affecting the behaviour of their cohabitants).
Ok, that's sounds right.
>
> > > 4) Create our own 'perfect' world to live in?"
>
> I don't think "perfect" worlds are a coherent concept.
Entirely subjective to ones opinion also.
> However if
> they get smart enough, they can create their own simulations and
> upload into them.
That was what I was driving at.
> Maybe, as many have mentioned, we already have
> done just that.
Exactly. And we'd probably never know !!!
BTW, I posted a while ago, asking about Politics and the CoV. Are there any
set ideas that must be adhered to, or is it entirely open to creation. If
I may I'd like to work towards putting a theory together.
Cheers
Drakir
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Richard Jones "We are the New Breed
jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com We are the Future."
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