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reality mind-game

Singer KilroySinger Kilroy Shipmate
in Purgatory
If someone in her own system (universe, box?) asked Lara Croft if she considered that she was created how would one judge her possible answers?

Comments

  • ZappaZappa Ecclesiantics Host
    carefully
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    Ironically.
  • Simon ToadSimon Toad Shipmate
    who is Laura Croft? Is she the tombraider avatar?
  • The5thMaryThe5thMary Shipmate
    Isn't her name Lara Croft?
  • Singer KilroySinger Kilroy Shipmate
    It is Lara and she is the Tombraider avatar.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Yes - ‘she’ was created. Just as a piece of art work is created.
  • HelenEvaHelenEva Shipmate
    I am a butterfly dreaming of being a Chinese philosopher who is watching Tomb Raider and the butterfly appears in the background...
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    Zappa wrote: »
    carefully

    Oh, come on, it's not like shaking hands with a porcupine.
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    Reminds me of the idea that the universe is a digital simulacrum, created by an advanced civilization, bored with the usual video games. De Grasse Tyson expressed interest in the idea, but how would you test it, or falsify it? I suppose hacking it would do the trick.
  • Martin54Martin54 Shipmate
    edited June 13
    That does him or ideas no credit at all, apart from negative, unless there was a whimsy alert.
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    Watch for those pixels blurring, and not on the TV.
  • NOprophet_NØprofitNOprophet_NØprofit Shipmate
    The novel Sophie's World . Recommended.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    quetzalcoatl wrote: »
    Reminds me of the idea that the universe is a digital simulacrum, created by an advanced civilization, bored with the usual video games. De Grasse Tyson expressed interest in the idea, but how would you test it, or falsify it? I suppose hacking it would do the trick.

    It would explain a lot. A virus infected the code around 2016.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    Well for "somebody" to "ask" her anything, it would have to be programmed into the game. As would her response.
  • LeRocLeRoc Shipmate
    quetzalcoatl wrote: »
    Reminds me of the idea that the universe is a digital simulacrum, created by an advanced civilization, bored with the usual video games. De Grasse Tyson expressed interest in the idea, but how would you test it, or falsify it?
    A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix.

  • RicardusRicardus Shipmate
    edited June 13
    mousethief wrote: »
    Well for "somebody" to "ask" her anything, it would have to be programmed into the game. As would her response.

    I suppose her response could be hard-coded ('if question = "Were you created?" then answer = "Yes"') or she could possess some measure of AI. In the latter case, her answer would ultimately be the result of a very complicated algorithm, and would therefore still reflect the opinions of the programmers, but it would give the illusion of being independent and objective - I guess the point is that independent thought for human beings could be equally illusory.
  • DafydDafyd Shipmate
    AIUI algorithms are frequently complex enough that the results are not always predictable by the programming team.
  • Martin54Martin54 Shipmate
    Ricardus wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Well for "somebody" to "ask" her anything, it would have to be programmed into the game. As would her response.

    I suppose her response could be hard-coded ('if question = "Were you created?" then answer = "Yes"') or she could possess some measure of AI. In the latter case, her answer would ultimately be the result of a very complicated algorithm, and would therefore still reflect the opinions of the programmers, but it would give the illusion of being independent and objective - I guess the point is that independent thought for human beings could be equally illusory.

    How?
  • Martin54Martin54 Shipmate
    edited June 15
    This Swiftian whimsical fantasy makes me think of Philip K. Dick's Ubik which, as usual, said it all generations ago. It's only one step away from the pareidolia that even beguiles Polkinghorne: the strong anthropic principle from the so called fine-tuned universe.
  • zogwargzogwarg Shipmate
    It mostly depends if the one judging answer lies within or out of her universe.

    Within the reality of the game, any number of supernatural facts are true, and while they might not necessarily be a single creator, it seems very unlikely that humans are not created at all. Again within the confines of the game, a creation myth from any polytheistic religion or amalgamation of such myths.

    If you have one judges it from outside her universe, then really want you want to consider is author intent, which in this case I suspect would just be making the video-game as fun possible (so possibly giving a very meta answer, à la Sophie's world)

  • Schroedingers CatSchroedingers Cat Shipmate, Waving not Drowning Host
    Dafyd wrote: »
    AIUI algorithms are frequently complex enough that the results are not always predictable by the programming team.

    That is certainly true.

    And this is the essence of a range of sci-fi stories - including BladeRunner and the Matrix. The answer depends on the programming of the system. We would tend to program systems to not have self-awareness (because in systems we create, it has no benefit).

    Of course, your real question is whether we are in a programmed environment, and whether we would know. And the answer depends on the creator. Even for Lara Croft, the same applies - have they been programmed in a way that makes the question one they can ask, and one they can find an answer to.

    I am not sure why the TombRaider writers would have felt a need to do that.

    Sophies world is a brilliant example (and just worth a read anyway).
  • Martin54Martin54 Shipmate
    Many People of the Book, including here, believe that the movie of eternity is in the can, that the endless story: "it is written", that the eternal algorithm been run.

    But reality does not compute.
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