[Paul T]

Originally Posted by McLovin

I agree.

I think the most breathtaking, and most horrifying, innovations are yet to come, and it will involve AI and virtual reality.

Virtual reality will at some point become essentially indistinguishable from real life. From a technical standpoint, but more importantly from a mental or emotional standpoint.

In other words, at some point people will be spending more time “online” in virtual worlds than in the real world. And, here’s the kicker, what’s going on in the “online world” will become more important than the real world.

Society will change drastically when that happens. For example, people living like that need very little. You could literally live in a 8x8 box, as long as there was a communal bathroom and a food source.

People like that could literally be farmed as voters. They’d vote for anyone that would promise to support and provide for their existence.

It sounds like science fiction, but I’ve seen it already happening. I know an able bodied 28 year old that still lives with his parents, is unemployed and spend essentially his entire existence in his room, online. This is a college educated, formerly normal kid. Govt lockdowns and the Internet did him in. He needs food and basic shelter in the real world, but other than that everything of importance to him is on the screen in front of him. It’s his life now. I don’t think he’s alone and in the future there will be more, not less, like him.

PPOT actually made me realize it many years ago. There have been people here who have posted basically from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to sleep, 30-40 posts a day, 7 days a week, for years on end. And, very personally and emotionally involved. It always amazed me. That is, essentially, living in a virtual reality. And an incredible level of personal, emotional and psychological investment - all on a an extremely low tech commercial car parts chat board.

Imagine what will happen when the technology become 100x more advanced and engaging. Those “innovations” are coming and will change humanity in ways never seen and never even imagined.

100% agree with this. There is a good book called Darknet, by Matt Mather. It's science fiction, but not far removed (IMO) from what we'll see in the not too distant future. AI will bring about things we can't even imagine. I've been reading a lot on the subject, and it doesn't give me the warm fuzzies for the future of humanity.