[ExI] Real & virtual worlds

[Lee Corbin]

Tom writes

> It seems that it is easier to envision a truly ludic/leisure 
> based society in a virtual world than in the physical one. 
 > Maybe the ludic revolution in our physical societies can
 > only occur once an uploaded society has blazed a trail.

I hope you read Max's recently linked 1997 essay on the
ultimate dangers of people becoming divorced from physical
reality (in just the sense of having no interest in it),
and Damien's news report[1] from somewhere about the
South Korean couple who got so wrapped up raising their
in-game infant that they allowed their real one to starve
to death.

No doubt about it, many many people prefer fantasy to
reality.

BUT. Once we have the means so that people can *choose*
what to be interested in, surely logic will grab them by
the throat and force them to prefer reality, whether it's
becoming insanely interested in doing AI experiments,
studying mathematics, or sending out and savoring the
reports from 10^15 probes on their way to explore the
galaxy.

I mean, Tom, if you could choose to find studying nanotech
and doing nanotech experiments just as fun and interesting
as going about the countryside in medieval armor having fun,
wouldn't you choose to switch?

Lee

[1] South Korean police have arrested a couple for starving their
     three-month-old daughter to death while they devoted hours to
     playing a computer game that involved raising a virtual character
     of a young girl.

     The 41-year-old man and 25-year-old woman, who met through a chat
     website, reportedly left their infant unattended while they went
     to internet cafes. They only occasionally dropped by to feed her
     powdered milk.

     "I am sorry for what I did and hope that my daughter does not
     suffer any more in heaven," the husband is quoted as saying on the
     asiaone website.

     According to the Yonhap news agency, South Korean police said the
     couple had become obsessed with raising a virtual girl called
     Anima in the popular role-playing game Prius Online. The game,
     similar to Second Life, allows players to create another existence
     for themselves in a virtual world, including getting a job,
     interacting with other users and earning an extra avatar to
     nurture once they reach a certain level.

     "The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life
     because they didn't have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby,"
     Chung Jin-Won, a police officer, told Yonhap. "They indulged
     themselves in the online game of raising a virtual character so as
     to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real
     baby."

     Last September after a 12-hour gaming-session the couple came home
     in the morning to find their daughter dead. The baby's
     malnourished body aroused police suspicions of neglect that were
     was confirmed after an autopsy.

     The couple fled to the wife's parents' house in Yangju, Gyeonggi
     province, but were picked up on Monday. The case has shocked South
     Korea and once again highlighted obsessive behaviour related to
     the internet.

     A 22-year-old Korean man was charged last month with murdering his
     mother because she nagged him for spending too much time playing
     games. After killing her the man went to a nearby internet cafe
     and continued with his game, said officials. In 2005 a young man
     collapsed in an internet cafe in the city of Taegu after playing
     the game StarCraft almost continuously for 50 hours. He went into
     cardiac arrest and died at a local hospital.

     Lee Joung-sun, an MP from the ruling Grand National party, last
     month submitted a bill restricting the hours offered to online
     gamers. Several bills are pending in the national assembly
     suggesting restrictions on teenagers' use of internet cafes and
     games.

     Research published last month in the UK showed evidence of a link
     between excessive internet use and depression. Leeds University
     researchers, writing in the Psychopathology journal, said a small
     proportion of internet users were classed as internet addicts and
     that people in this group were more likely to be depressed than
     non-addicted users.