In a novel by Greg Egan, the character Peer, who has achieved immortality in a virtual reality, becomes bored and seeks new passions. This raises the question of what remains to be done when technology has solved humanity's deepest problems. Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at the University of Oxford, explores this topic in his latest book 'Deep Utopia'.
, a novel by Greg Egan , the character Peer, having achieved immortality within a virtual reality over which he has total control, finds himself terribly bored. So he engineers himself to have new passions. One moment he is pushing the boundaries of higher mathematics; the next he is writing operas. “He’d even been interested in the Elysians , once. No longer. He preferred to think about table legs.” Peer’s fickleness relates to a deeper point.
argued that humanity faced a one-in-six chance of being wiped out in the next 100 years, perhaps owing to the development of dangerous forms of artificial intelligence . In Mr Bostrom’s latest publication, “Deep Utopia”, he considers a rather different outcome. What happens ifgoes extraordinarily well? Under one scenario presented in the book, the technology progresses to the point at which it can do all economically valuable work at near-zero cost.
Boredom Immortality Virtual Reality Technology Deep Utopia Nick Bostrom Greg Egan
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The history of virtual reality that led to Apple Vision ProApple is turning science fiction into reality but was VR meant to be used like this?
Read more »
Virtual Reality Headset Tested in Space to Treat Astronauts' Mental HealthA virtual reality headset has been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to test its effectiveness in treating the mental health strains experienced by astronauts. The headset comes pre-loaded with natural scenes to provide a sense of relaxation and escape from the sterile environment of the ISS. Astronaut Andreas Mogensen is testing the gadget during his six-month mission.
Read more »
Future drug makers can develop their skills using virtual reality at new national Centre of ExcellenceFuture medicine and vaccine makers will be able to develop their skills using virtual reality at a new national Centre of Excellence, after a successful funding bid involving UCL.
Read more »
Evaluating homelessness empathy through virtual reality among dental studentsA study aiming to determine experiential impact on student-empathy in relation to timing of when they experienced a VR-simulation of homelessness was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th...
Read more »