The Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, and the Problems of Philosophy | David Chalmers

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2022

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 231 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with renowned philosopher and author of “Reality+” David Chalmers about the metaverse, the nature of reality, and the problems of philosophy in a virtual world.

David’s central thesis is that the metaverse and virtual reality are genuine realities and that we may be living in such virtual worlds already. Along the way, Demetri and David conduct a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science, using virtual reality technology to explore new perspectives on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed in this mind-bending episode.

In the second part of their conversation, David and Demetri imagine not only what it would be like to live in a simulated world, but whether or not it would be possible to do so without becoming a slave to someone else’s reality. David also shares his views on Web3 and whether or not such protocols could play a role in helping people live freer and better lives in the metaverse.

You can access the full episode, transcript, and intelligence report to this week’s conversation by going directly to the episode page at HiddenForces.io and clicking on "premium extras." All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

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Episode Recorded on 02/01/2022

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody? My name is the Metric of Venus and you're listening to
0:05.2	Hidden Forces, a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs and everyday
0:10.8	citizens to challenge consensus narratives and to learn how to think critically
0:15.5	about the systems of power shaping our world. My guest in this week's episode is
0:20.6	David Chalmers. David is university professor of philosophy and neural science
0:25.2	and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York
0:30.6	University. He's probably best known for formulating the so-called hard
0:35.2	problem of consciousness and I've been a fan of his since as long as I can
0:39.5	remember. So when David told me that he would finally be coming out with his
0:43.6	long anticipated book on the subject of techno philosophy and virtual worlds I
0:48.6	knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to have him on the podcast. David's
0:54.2	central thesis in his new book and that we explore in this conversation is that
0:58.8	virtual realities like the so-called metaverse are genuine realities and that we
1:04.1	may in fact already be living in a virtual world which I know will sound
1:09.3	crazy to some people but if you've heard any of my past podcasts with Patrick
1:13.9	Grimm on mind body philosophy or Jim Holt on the philosophy of science you will
1:19.4	know that at the very least based on what we already know or think we know
1:23.8	about the material structure of the physical world our perception of that world
1:29.0	is a highly embellished simulation of what's really going on we perceive only a
1:34.5	fraction of the information that's available to us and from that our minds create
1:39.1	what are effectively elaborate maps full of colors and smells and feelings the
1:45.4	feeling for example that the ground beneath my feet is solid or that there are
	...

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