> Geez louise! Pretty gung-ho. Why not just equip them with little
Only way to live bro.
> baby-sized heads-up displays and teach the to use chord keyboards
> while you're teaching them to talk, walk, etc.? That seems like a
That makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. HMDs tend to
eliminate, or at least delay raster burn by a factor of five (YMMV). Not
to mention the fact that trying to teach a kid to type (which is almost
required these days as computers have become to pervasive in the world)
is difficult. Maybe handtrackers and reflective nail polish in lieu of
data gloves.
> hell of a lot more practical--and a lot more feasible--approach.
Not to mention it's so bloody /neat/. (squeal of delight)
Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.
> Which begs the question *why* the hell would you want to do
> either of them anyway?
The way technology is advancing in the human interface department, it'll
be almost necessary to start training the youngsters early, so they'll be
able to advance with the times. Dehumanizing, maybe. But, then again,
so is being antisocial these days (from what the media says) depicts a
loss of humanity. Make sense? Not really. What I'm trying to say is,
you're damned if you do and don't, so we may as well make the best of
it. Myself, I'd say wait until the munchkins are old enough to
understand what's going on (12-13).
> It strikes me that lots of folk (would-be cyberpunks, mostly)
> think it would be really cool to live in VR a la William Gibson.
A neat idea in theory, but think of everything you miss on the flip side.
It's that happy medium that needs to be struck.
> Do people forget that _Neuromancer_, etc., are basically
> *dystopian* visions of the future? No big surprise that the
Like today isn't a precursor of dystopia? Corrupt cops, politicians who
lie through their teeth, the odd 20-something who decided to rip his
employer for a nifty chunk of cash, censorship, corporations going
multinational and using loopholes left and right... Sure, it's not the
Sprawl, but it's getting close to it.
> romantic allure of cyberspatial disconnection from reality is a
> direct descendent of 19th century opium hallucinations and 20th
> century "turn on, tune in, drop out" attitudes. What's the
> appeal?
Maybe a fresh reality is what we need to grow. Who knows? Maybe we can
find a way to fix up the flip side in here? That's the beauty of the
Multiverse: You never know what can happen unless you try.
> I can't remotely conceive of why anyone would want to "live" in
> cyberspace when the "real" world has so much to offer.
Permitted-p assumption? Assumption = direct neural interface.
Quadraplegics. There are things that can't be done without
manipulators. Maybe it would be possible to rig mechanical ones to motor
nerves, but there would always be a few who would leave the material
world behind because there would be nothing they could (or think they
could) do in it. Maybe VR will become a medium to adapt to (seemingly)
unlivable conditions.
> Technical questions? The technology is the easy part. It's the
> *ethical* questions that are more important, IMO.
Very true. It all depends on who's on the trigger end of the brain
considering them. Assuming that The Future(pat. pend.) turns out the way
it's being discussed here, both things will happen. It's possible that
we may become so jaded, though, that no one will care about the
ramifications of raising the next generation in the Matrix. Sad,
really. But possible.
> Was it B.F. Skinner, the behaviorist, who suggested raising a
> newborn in a locked box to examine what happened when a child was
> deprived of environmental influences?
I think so. I know of tests where infants were raised without maternal
bonding, merely pragmatic treatment. All infants in question died before
six months were up. The human mind relies upon its environment to
develop, else it folds up and withers, not unlike a kleenex dropped into
water and removed.
Bryce Lynch
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doctor who - del | finger for lousy reason for name/addr. conflict
"Something in the air/treat me like a child/you can lead me on..all night.."
http://www.lm.com/~bryce <--- still under construction!