Simulated

When The Real Is Not Engaged

Much of our lives seem to be increasingly simulated. 

Is there is a tipping point over the degree to which our experience with life is simulated?  What is impacted when our orientation to reality is less and less with real things?  

It appears we are now capable of simulating nearly everything that one can experience in life. AI is, basically, premised on the notion that we can have something virtually, as opposed to actually having it (…and, we seem to have become quite content with this).

But, is anything being lost, particularly when this becomes so pervasive; in so many of the dimensions of our lives? 

Gaming is one obvious example.  But, what about so many other things now?  People say they like nature, but how many actually spend time in it — as opposed to just looking at it or watching something about it?  Many of our home environments are freshly designed for the purpose of entertaining others — how many actually ever have anybody over?  

Even food is simulated now — you can just drink the basic ingredients you need.  And then there is the changing nature of money — it's hard to tell what is real money and what isn't.  Our sense of sexuality doesn't really even seem to require actual sex with another person.  What about our social-media influenced ideas about real connection with others (or relationships in general)?  …the list goes on and on, and on and on.   

Many of our experiences are less and less with real things, but rather just simulation of real things.

When is the consequence of this like a tipping point, from which we no longer really know what reality actually is or how to relate to it?  Is this still a premature concern, or are we already in too deep to know any better?

Experience with the real (actual) world, at least theoretically, could probably be enhanced by navigation of imagined ones, but literal experience is an indispensable teacher. Thinking about what something is like is not the same as actually experiencing it….

Without rehearsing the whole list, thinking about sex and having it, well…let’s just say, not the same thing. A recipe and eating the food it represents are obviously not the same thing. Watching a nature show versus hiking a summit, no comparison.

We are physical beings. All the senses when combined are giving us much more tangible feedback than when, say, just the mind is activated.

And, to the degree that our experience is fully-orbed, one has to believe that we are truly more informed, more capable, more understanding, and more sensitive to the real dynamics of living and breathing.

Life is…to be lived. And living it is direct interaction with it. That interaction is what sustains us and helps us grow, individually and collectively.

What’s the chicken and what’s the egg on where we are collectively as a result of our slide towards simulation is a bit hard to identify. But, I can’t help but wonder how many of the dynamics that we are now facing as a society are being impacted by our increasing disconnection from real things.