Sunday, April 4, 2010

Are we actors in transcendent films?

Yesterday I was watching a good historic film, and I thought that perhaps this is the reason why transcendent post-humans may bother to simulate us (see the previous post): for the same reason why we enjoy historic novels and films.

Films now permit only passive watching from an external point of view, and offer only very limited clues on the thoughts and mental states of the characters (books are much better in this respect). But films-as-we-know-them will probably be replaced by full sensory and mental experiences indistinguishable from reality. For example:

First, films will use full 3D virtual reality technology to permit viewers moving in the scene (like live plays where the public can walk in the scene).

Second, once VR technology becomes fully immersive with full sensory stimulation, films may become indistinguishable from reality, but viewers will still know that they are watching a movie.

Then, viewers may have the option to "become" the characters, forgetting their primary lives and adopting the points of view of the characters, with their own scripted thoughts, memories and emotions.

And ultimately, the characters themselves may become fully autonomous and conscious entities, able to provide endless hours of entertainment to viewers by becoming different versions of themselves in different versions of the film's simulated reality. Are quantum many-worlds special effects?

So if you wanted to be a Hollywood star... perhaps you are one, acting within an entertainment simulation run by a Transcendent Mind. Perhaps if you do it well the Mind will copy you to other films.

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