Two weeks ago, I finally watched this fascinating movie about a man falling in love with a new, powerful operating system capable of very advanced artificial intelligence. If you haven't seen it yet, I think it is really entertaining and well worth watching. I bring it up because this week's thought experiment is somewhat related to the central idea of this movie, and it would be helpful to really consider the issue thoroughly as you might just get into a lot of trouble if you answer it wrong...
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Like many people who had been married for several years, Dick was bored with his relationship. There was no passion these days. In fact, Dick and his wife hardly slept together at all. However, Dick had no intention whatsoever of leaving his wife. He loved her and she was an excellent mother to their children.
He knew full well what the usual solution to this problem was: have an affair. You simply accept that your wife satisfies some of your needs and your mistress others. But Dick didn't really want to go behind his wife's back, and he also knew that she could not deal with an open relationship, even if he could.
So when Dick heard about Byte on the Side Inc. ('Even better than the real thing!'), he had to take it seriously. What the company offered was the opportunity to conduct a virtual affair. Not one-handed cyber sex with a real person at the other end of the computer connection, but a virtual reality environment in which you 'slept with' a completely simulated person. It would feel just like real sex, but, in fact, all your experiences would be caused by computers stimulating your brain to make it seem to you as though you were having sex. All the thrills of an affair, but with no third person, and hence no real infidelity. Why should he say no?
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 10.
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Uh oh. There are a lot of relationship landmines sprinkled into that problem. How would you negotiate them?
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Like many people who had been married for several years, Dick was bored with his relationship. There was no passion these days. In fact, Dick and his wife hardly slept together at all. However, Dick had no intention whatsoever of leaving his wife. He loved her and she was an excellent mother to their children.
He knew full well what the usual solution to this problem was: have an affair. You simply accept that your wife satisfies some of your needs and your mistress others. But Dick didn't really want to go behind his wife's back, and he also knew that she could not deal with an open relationship, even if he could.
So when Dick heard about Byte on the Side Inc. ('Even better than the real thing!'), he had to take it seriously. What the company offered was the opportunity to conduct a virtual affair. Not one-handed cyber sex with a real person at the other end of the computer connection, but a virtual reality environment in which you 'slept with' a completely simulated person. It would feel just like real sex, but, in fact, all your experiences would be caused by computers stimulating your brain to make it seem to you as though you were having sex. All the thrills of an affair, but with no third person, and hence no real infidelity. Why should he say no?
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 10.
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Uh oh. There are a lot of relationship landmines sprinkled into that problem. How would you negotiate them?
