On 31 May 2012 12:45, Peter Lennox <p.len...@derby.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
> This is The Matrix, anything written by Philip K Dick, and before that, Plato
> in his Cave metaphor.
>
> It is essentially unprovable:
>
Aren't we having fun here? Of course, in one (very important) sense,
nothing other than a logical statement with no outside references can
be proved :-)
>
> "...If physically perfected artificial three-dimensional auditory
> environments were feasible, would the artificial product be as entirely
> realistic to perception as the real thing? If not, what ingredient is
> missing? If so, what would philosophically distinguish real and artificial?
> Is such a distinction necessary?"
>
> "...By definition, if an artificial environment is detectable as such, then
> it is imperfectly executed and the hypothetical position has not been
> matched. On the other hand, if the artificial environment were perfectly
> rendered, there would be no way to prove its artificiality." [ my thesis,
> some years ago]
>
Hmm - an artificial environment might be still be so realistic as to
make those in it believe it which would mean it was not detectable to
them yet still be imperfectly executed in the sense that some outside
it could simply flip the 'off' switch, thus disproving it....oh dear,
isn't that what those religions that believe in afterlives have been
telling us for years? On the other hand, when you get to
heaven/hell/limbo (in the Faustian sense), how could you believe in
that?
> So, maybe the whole point of making artificial environments is not that we
> can perfect them, but that, in doing so, we come to understand more about the
> perceptually relevant constituents of real environments. So it's the journey,
> not the destination..?
> Peter Lennox
>
That is demonstrably the fun bit, even if it's unprovable.
Dave
--
These are my own views and may or may not be shared by my employer
Dave Malham
Music Research Centre
Department of Music
The University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
UK
Phone 01904 322448
Fax 01904 322450
'Ambisonics - Component Imaging for Audio'
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