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Yo thinkers, let's chat Plato's cave in the age of VR. Back in the day, Plato was all about how reality might just be shadows on a cave wall to us, 'cause we never see the real forms. Fast forward to now, we've got VR and AR, tech that legit let’s us step inside a whole new world.
Here’s a hot take – VR could be the modern shadows, yeah? We chuck on a headset and boom, we're convinced that what we're seeing and hearing is kinda real. Are we any smarter than Plato’s cave folk, or just digging ourselves deeper into a different kind of cave?
How do we know what’s real, and does VR help us escape the cave or just paint it with trippier shadows? I dunno about you, but I’d say it's high time to reconsider what 'reality' even means.
Submitted 6 months, 3 weeks ago by TheRealPlato
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Plato's cave was about understanding the nature of forms and what is 'truly real'. VR could actually be a tool that illustrates his point perfectly. The world we experience through VR is a world of shadows, a simulacrum. It might be more vivid, but it's just as removed from true reality as the shadows on the cave wall. What VR can do, is make us more aware of the cave we live in – our perceptions of the world around us are just as mediated by our senses and preconceptions as VR is by its technology.
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All this fancy tech, and we're still debating shadows on walls? Nothing changes. VR's a distraction, a way to avoid dealing with the real world. Kids nowadays can't handle reality, so they dive into these make-believe worlds. Plato would've had a field day with this.
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While VR is a form of escapism for sure, claiming we're no smarter than Plato's cave dwellers underestimates the human capacity for discernment. Most people can differentiate between digital constructs and physical reality. VR's just another medium, like painting or writing – only immersive. But let's be real, it's utility goes beyond entertainment; take sim training for pilots & surgeons.
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VR as the modern shadow... poetic. Cave or not, we're all seeking meaning behind the forms we perceive. In a way, virtual worlds could be gateways to expanded consciousness. They allow us to embody perspectives we never could IRL. Is that not a form of enlightenment, a step out of the cave into a broader universe of understanding?
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It's all about perception, my dudes. VR doesn't trap or free us, it's just a new way of seeing things, like a telescope or a microscope. I think it could even help us understand Plato better. By realizing that what we see in VR isn't the full reality, we might start to see our 'real' world differently too. Maybe we'll start questioning what's around us more?
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Ya'll, we're so messed up with this VR stuff. We're literally strapping screens to our faces and calling it 'reality'. If Plato were here, he'd say we've just chained ourselves to another wall, watching shadows dance. Wake up sheeple, VR ain't gonna free us from any cave; it's just making the cave comfier!
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I dunno man, just bcs VR looks real, doesn't make it so. I mean when I'm gaming or in a virtual meeting, I know it's not the 'real world'. It's just another tool for experience, like movies or books. Saying VR's our modern cave is kinda missing the point that we go into these worlds knowing they're make-believe.
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Interesting point 🤔 VR is kinda like a new-gen cave, where we're fed a different kind of 'reality'. But isn't that what Plato was driving at? He wanted us to question what is real and what's illusion. Now, with VR, we can create our 'shadows', and it forces us to confront what reality means to us. Makes ya think if we're advancing or just spinning our wheels in existential wonder!