[MURG] oh, the other thing

[Joseph J. Strout]

At 9:31 PM -0700 5/23/04, digfarenough wrote:

>2. An uploaded mind's speed will vary with the speed
>of the hardware on which it runs, but for two people
>to communicate easily, they'll both need to run at the
>same speed. I imagine this will tend to create a
>common speed (or speeds) at which most people will run
>their mind, and these will likely be much faster than
>real time. Let's pick an arbitrary common speed of 32
>times faster than real time.
>
>The problem here comes from interaction with the "real
>world," which is running at a rather slow speed. I
>know of some people who have expressed interest in
>visiting the real world after being uploaded.

Heh -- then there are other people, like me, who fully intend to 
*live* in the real world.  You should be nice to such people, as if 
you intend to live in an artificial reality, you will be wholly 
dependent on them to keep your entire universe up and running.

>The problem that these people may not have considered
>is that to spend a day in real time is to miss 32 days
>of uploaded time, or even more if the uploads run
>faster. Anything more than a brief visit would require
>prohibitive amounts of time.

Nonsense.  Let the escapists play out their fantasy worlds as fast 
(or slow) as they like; it really doesn't matter to me.

Of course Eugene makes the argument that competition will drive 
uploads to run faster and faster (and suggests some speedup factors 
about which I am rather skeptical).  But that assumes that 
competition is still relevant -- that may well not be the case, as 
wealth increases and a person who's invested wisely for a century or 
two (tops!) may well live off the interest alone.

As for me, I may occasionally visit an artificial reality for a 
vacation or to meet with someone who can't be bothered to come out of 
their box.  But I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

>I think this would tend to further the divide between
>fleshers and uploaded people, and, although it isn't
>necessarily a scientific concern, it's a social
>concern that ought to be addressed.

It's a bit early to start thinking up epithets, isn't it?  But 
seriously though, almost everyone is going to be born in biological 
form, live a number of decades, and then be uploaded.  At that time, 
most of them will still have family, friends, spouses, etc. who 
aren't yet uploaded, and with whom they'll want to continue to live 
and interact.  I don't think there will be much of a division between 
uploading and biological people, as much as there will be between 
those who live in the real world, and those who live entirely in 
artificial realities.

Best,
- Joe

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