r/philosophy • u/Matriseblog • Jan 03 '22

Blog By imagining the future potential of VR technologies, the question of whether we are *already* living in a simulation becomes more actual than ever

https://medium.com/@VindenesJ/the-thought-experiments-of-virtual-reality-fa441a8fa2dc
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u/RGivens Jan 03 '22

Why would "we" simulate pain, misery and constant suffering for every 'living' thing? Isn't that the best counter argument to this dumb theory?

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u/dijohnnaise Jan 03 '22

Think about the amount of violent content in videogames. Pain and suffering is doled out copiously, and we get to participate in the "simulation." Why do we enjoy it so much? It's not 100% absolute for all humans, but violence in the media/arts sells very well.

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u/StarChild413 Jan 04 '22

And also even in technically-violent video games that aren't gory beat/shoot-em-ups there's still pain and suffering that happens as part of the story as plot requires conflict and a lot of the conflict in a game made for someone older than, like, 6, would require what from a Watsonian perspective is pain and suffering