IB TOK class: David Chalmers — ‘We are the gods of the virtual worlds we create’
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
This article picked by a teacher with suggested questions is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here.
Specification:
IB DP TOK themes & AOKs Technology, Human sciences, Knowledge & the knower, Religion
Relevant BQ Perspectives
Key terms and ideas Virtual worlds, Artificial vs genuine, Techno-philosophy, Extended minds, Exo-cortex
Investigating Issues The metaverse
Exhibition prompt IAP-23 (tools)
Click to read the article below and then answer the questions:
David Chalmers: ‘We are the gods of the virtual worlds we create’
Chalmers is all over the media at the moment, indicating his influence within the new field of ‘techno-philosophy’ and why his ideas are worth knowing. You can jump to the section of the interview dealing with the metaverse.
Why is Chalmers a lot more positive about this than other commentators?
What is an exo-cortex, and what are the dangers associated with these for us as knowers of the world?
What is Chalmers’ ‘five-point’ checklist to evaluate whether something is real — and how effective does this seem?
Overall, do you agree with his assertion that virtual reality is genuine reality?
Michael Dunn, theoryofknowledge.net
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