Mankind's greatest success our greatest failure?

W

WatchMaker

Cadet
I recently was assigned a report on the topic of dreams and what exactly they contribute to a person’s sanity and humanity for Psychology. I'm not going to bore the hell out of you guys with 6 pages of textbook bull, but rather discuss a thought I had while writing this report.

If you could have everything you ever wanted, over and again, thousands upon thousands of time, what you happen to you? What if "What if" became nothing more than two simple words? It's almost beyond thought as to what could happen to our minds if not the slightest bit of desire or want remained. About the only thing I assume that would happen is that you would to no longer have the desire to live on. What if this condition spread? The main reason for sex is reproduction, and through so, man feels immortalized through the action of passing on a little bit of himself. What if that was no longer even the remotest concern to anyone? That's why I think this incredible concept for "Mankind's greatest success our greatest failure?" could be just that. Of course, I bet your asking yourself, how could anyone ever -REALLY- have everything they ever wanted and how the hell could someone -not- want to have secks?!

The answer is simple, dream manipulation. To our subconscious, time has no meaning, and imagination has no boundary. If man could ever find a way to control and manipulate a person dreams, it would certainly be the end of all humanity. The use of D.M. is inevitable. It's only a matter of time till our technology reaches that level of complexity. Look at it this way. You could live entire life times, over and over in a blink of an eye. Living out any scenario you want. Dying in any scenario you want. It would be a completely infinite pool of entertainment at the touch of our fingers. You could be a god. Scary thought, eh?

How this would actually work in a "real" situation:

Dream Manipulation Stations are set up through out the world. People begin to see and open up to this new form of "entertainment." Soon, the big issue of "Is it okay to live your entire life hooked up to Dream Manipulation?" The debate over people being born and dying in a tube that can control their entire life would rage on for awhile, but eventually, as all things do, become to familiar with society and eventually no longer bring about concern. Sure, D.M. would start of expensive, but eventually it would be as common as TV and as addicting as Meth.

Okay, so I know that was weird, but hear me out. Who knows where this could lead.. Or where it could end. In a nutshell, if this situation ever comes about, we know we are screwed one way or another.

(NOTE: Please do not steal this idea. I've already slightly regretted posting it, as I -may- or -may not- be considering it to be the first book I write.)
 
I'll need to go through my ol' 'weird subject' book stack over there to suggest a title to you set up on the same train of thought as all of this. There's even suggestions on trying it at home with various exercises and what not.
It's always been interesting stuff. LoL
Makes me think of Total Recall right off the top of my head.
 
This has been an interesting topic for me for some time as well.

I personally would probably only use technology like this for testing* purposes for one simple reason: No matter how realistic, anything I did would be more or less meaningless since it would all a simulation.

I have the predisposition to want anything that I do to have impact on reality in some way. I am also, to some degree, a supporter of transhuman ideals. These two facts put together mean that I believe that I will eventually be capable of doing almost anything I could do in such a simulation in reality and with greater impact.

*IE: I would use the technology to simulate, say, the construction of an extremely large structure (I am an avid engineer) before I actually built it. I would still actually build it because I derive part of my enjoyment of engineering from the design and building process and the challenges that it entails. Also, building a massive structure in reality is a mark of ability, while building the same structure in a simulation in a simulation is not.

I do, however, agree that many people would simply enter their favorite dream and never leave. This kind of technology would probably be regulated to an extreme degree, if not made illegal.
 
Aye, it is alot like Total Recall, and yes, It could be used for constructive and progressive purposes, but I highly doubt that it would remain just for those reasons for very long. What you said suggest that the dreams would play out exactly as reality would, when in truth, since it's a dream, you could build a floating structure that spins wildly!

As I said before, since it is litteraly -every possiblilty-, who knows what will happen.
 
Well, I think people would feel the pull of the real world, eventually. I mean, you'd know that you were in a dream state, and... Damn it, my brother showed up, the dogs started barking, and I lost my train of thought. Anyway, my point is, while it may dominate the masses, there would always be those who prefer the real world. Or something like that, anyway.
 
It also reminds me of "Better Than Life" the gaming concept that underpins some of the Red Dwarf storyline.
 
There was an episode of Batman: the Animated Series exactly like this. One of the villains hooked an unconscious Batman up to a dream machine that would keep him alive, keep him asleep, and give him everything he ever wished for. Much like the Matrix, it was rejected and he broke into the real world.

People like Bruce Wayne/Batman, with very strong drives and connections to the real world, wouldn't get anything out of such a device. Other people though, the drifters and "lost," would probably "jack in" and never leave.
 
Speaking of the Matrix (as in those movies), I was wondering if you all knew about the concept of "the Matrix" in the TV series Doctor Who? It was invented, like, 30 years earlier and was, essentially, an environment you entered through your mind, but which seemed like a perfectly real place. I always wondered how those guys got away with using the same concept, and even the same name, for it!!!
 
The book Neuromancer is also one of the primary influences for The Matrix. It was written by William Gibson and published in the mid 80s. Guess what the virtual world that people "jack into" is called in that book? You guessed it, "the matrix."

The main characters (a Neo-like guy and a Trinity-like girl, with a Morpheus-like adviser and an Oracle-like rogue AI), settings, and feeling of Neuromancer all directly influenced the movie. The Matrix didn't really make anything new, it just rehashed several other works into a highly successful, entertaining format.

By the way, if you like the cyber-punk genre, I highly recommend Gibson's works. He literally defined the genre. Amusingly enough, I just checked one of the book reviews for Neuromancer. The reviewer called it "a kind of high-tech punk novel." High-tech punk... cyber-punk? Hmmm, coincidence? Don't think so.
 
Gate said:
The book Neuromancer is also one of the primary influences for The Matrix. It was written by William Gibson and published in the mid 80s. Guess what the virtual world that people "jack into" is called in that book? You guessed it, "the matrix."

The main characters (a Neo-like guy and a Trinity-like girl, with a Morpheus-like adviser and an Oracle-like rogue AI), settings, and feeling of Neuromancer all directly influenced the movie. The Matrix didn't really make anything new, it just rehashed several other works into a highly successful, entertaining format.

By the way, if you like the cyber-punk genre, I highly recommend Gibson's works. He literally defined the genre. Amusingly enough, I just checked one of the book reviews for Neuromancer. The reviewer called it "a kind of high-tech punk novel." High-tech punk... cyber-punk? Hmmm, coincidence? Don't think so.
Click to expand...

Excellent Book. The ShadowRun Pen & Paper RPG and books took much from William Gibson's works as well.
 
blur said:
Oh man, that's even worse! Are there any original ideas in Hollywood?!?
Click to expand...

::twitch::

::snicker::

::twitch twitch::

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...aha...ha.... wait, that was a joke right?
 
Hollywood has no originality. For the past 6 years we've seen nothing but continuous Marvel Movie Trilogies of every freakin superhero out there.
 
Yeah, but some of them really work. The Spiderman movies, for example. Totally mainstream... but they work.
 
Dirk Gently said:
Speaking of which, the new Spidey movie looks pretty good...
Click to expand...

I can't wait to see Venom...although I am very curious of the storyline as I know it won't be coming from the Secret Wars...which also needs it's only trilogy trilogy :D
 

Similar threads

A
Gamings Greatest Debate
Replies
5
Views
398
Avenged117
A
A
Greatest Conquerers in History
Replies
4
Views
374
oO GARCIA Oo
O
D
Victor Garber for Greatest Canadian!
Replies
0
Views
492
Double Agent
D
Back
Top