Is the Metaverse the Hero We Need to Rescue Us From Suffering and Enchant the World?
After a few years hiding in the basements of techno-enthusiasts, virtual reality is back in…
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Monstrous Futures: Dungeons & Dragons, Harbinger of the “None” Generation, Turns 40
This year, 2014, is the 40th anniversary of the game Dungeons & Dragons, the pen-and-paper…
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The Cult of Kurzweil: Will Robots Save Our Souls?
Scientists like roboticist Hans Moravec and inventor Ray Kurzweil advocate uploading our minds into robots or virtual reality so that we can live forever. They believe that our minds can be replicated outside of our brains if we simply copy the pattern of neuro-chemical activity taking place in our bodies. That pattern, rather than the brains in which the pattern takes shape, “is” the personality. If it can be transferred to a digital medium, it can be made immortal. Surpassingly intelligent robots—our Mind Children, according to Moravec—will populate the universe, converting physical reality into a cosmic interweb of thinking machines.
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