Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

by David J. Chalmers

Overview

One of the Washington Post's Best Nonfiction Books of 2022

A leading philosopher takes a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it.

Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already.

Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there’s an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers’ mind-bending analysis.

Studded with illustrations that bring philosophical issues to life, Reality+ is a major statement that will shape discussion of philosophy, science, and technology for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324050346
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

David Chalmers is a professor of philosophy and neural science and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York University. He wrote The Conscious Mind, The Character of Consciousness, and Constructing the World, and lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction Adventures in technophilosophy xi

Part 1 Virtual Worlds

Chapter 1 Is this the real life? 3

Chapter 2 What is the simulation hypothesis? 20

Part 2 Knowledge

Chapter 3 Do we know things? 43

Chapter 4 Can we prove there is an external world? 61

Chapter 5 Is it likely that we're in a simulation? 81

Part 3 Reality

Chapter 6 What is reality? 105

Chapter 7 Is God a hacker in the next universe up? 124

Chapter 8 Is the universe made of information? 145

Chapter 9 Did simulation create its from bits? 167

Part 4 Real Virtual Reality

Chapter 10 Do virtual reality headsets create reality? 185

Chapter 11 Are virtual reality devices illusion machines? 203

Chapter 12 Does augmented reality lead to alternative facts? 225

Chapter 13 Can we avoid being deceived by deepfakes? 238

Part 5 Mind

Chapter 14 How do mind and body interact in a virtual world? 255

Chapter 15 Can tbere be consciousness in a digital world? 274

Chapter 16 Does augmented reality extend the mind? 294

Part 6 Value

Chapter 17 Can you lead a good life in a virtual world? 311

Chapter 18 Do simulated lives matter? 331

Chapter 19 How should we build a virtual society? 350

Part 7 Foundations

Chapter 20 What do our words mean in virtual worlds? 367

Chapter 21 Do dust clouds run computer programs? 385

Chapter 22 Is reality a mathematical structure? 399

Chapter 23 Have we fallen from the Garden of Eden? 423

Chapter 24 Are we Boltzmann brains in a dream world? 440

Acknowledgments 463

Glossary 467

Notes 471

Index 505

Editorial Reviews

"A David Chalmers book is a competition. On the one hand the writing is so clear and engaging that you want to keep turning pages; on the other, the ideas are so surprising and profound that you are continually stopping to think about them. Reality+ is a treasure trove of provocative reflections on cosmology, consciousness, artificial intelligence, ethics, and more. Reading it will change the way you think about the universe."

Sean Carroll

"[A] sprawling, brain-tenderising beast of a book—but a hugely entertaining one at that."

The Times - Kit Wilson

"In this accessible yet thought-provoking book, readers will encounter everything from Plato's allegory of the cave and John Wheeler's it-from-bit hypothesis to how mind and body might interact in virtual worlds, whether reality is a mathematical structure, and whether we might just be Boltzmann brains floating in a dream world. Chalmers also tackles techno-centric questions like whether smartphones extend our minds, whether the Internet is making us smart or stupid, the threat of deepfakes and alternative facts, and whether there can be an objective reality in a multiverse of virtual worlds."

Ars Technica - Jennifer Ouellette

"Fasten your seatbelt and put your helmet on, David Chalmers is going to take you on an amazing trip. Reality+ is wild, profound, and playful, placing famous arguments from the history of philosophy next to surprising observations about video games. Cleverly disguised as light reading, this book carries a large payload of new ideas about existence, knowledge, and what makes life worth living."

Jennifer Nagel

"A stunning achievement. In effortless prose David Chalmers explores new ways to think about everything from consciousness to computation, deities to democracy. Reality+ shows time and again how familiar topics take on interesting new forms when viewed through the lens of virtual reality."

Scott Sturgeon

"What is real anyway? Exploring the deepest doubts about reality from Zhuangzi to Descartes, David J. Chalmers stirs our own doubts and leads us into the real worlds of future virtual reality. A gripping book."

Susan Blackmore

12/13/2021

“Virtual worlds need not be second-class realities,” writes philosopher Chalmers (The Conscious Mind) in this fascinating look at the simulation hypothesis, which proposes that humans are more likely than not living in a computer simulation. According to Chalmers, advances in computing power and virtual reality technology put long-standing philosophical questions about the nature of reality in a new light, as vast and highly sophisticated simulations become commonplace. Virtual reality, Chalmers writes, offers a chance to reckon with a tradition of philosophical skepticism that, beginning with Descartes, dismisses simulated reality as mere illusion. For Chalmers, virtual reality is a “genuine” reality composed of bits rather than atoms and quarks—and while “the virtual object is different from the nonvirtual one,” he writes, “both are equally real.” The implications of Chalmers’s “simulation realism” are various and eye-opening, as in the new life the hypothesis lends to religious concepts of creation and a creator. Crafted with the general reader in mind, this is an object lesson in philosophical reasoning and a bold, often awe-inspiring discussion of its implications. Philosophy-minded readers weened on The Matrix and ready for the metaverse will want to take a look. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"[R]ich, scintillating . . . [Chalmers] wrestles with how age-old philosophical conundrums can be reinterpreted in the age of Reality+. "

Financial Times - John Thornhill

"As humanity enters a brave new world of artificial superintelligence and computer-generated virtual realities, how can we humble hunter-gatherers, descended from cavemen, begin to grasp our astonishing technological future? The answer lies in this book. We must think about the ultimate nature of reality. In Reality+ David Chalmers provides the roadmap to your future."

Susan Schneider

"Chalmers' central idea, that "there is more to reality than we thought", is seductive, and I was surprised to find his arguments delightfully—or perhaps worryingly—convincing. He has taken a subject most people would dismiss as pure science fiction and produced a brilliant and very readable philosophical investigation."

The Guardian - PD Smith

"Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy, by the Australian philosopher David J. Chalmers, is a highly lucid and thought-provoking exploration of such matters—from René Descartes’s thought experiment about an evil demon controlling the inputs into his brain, to the modern “simulation hypothesis” that asks whether we are already living in an alien metaverse without knowing it. "

The Wall Street Journal - Steven Poole

"[A] brain-bending new book by the philosopher David Chalmers—Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problem of Philosophy—has turned me into a hard-core simulationist. After reading and talking to Chalmers, I've come to believe that the coming world of virtual reality might one day be regarded as every bit as real as real reality. "

The New York Times - Farhad Manjoo

". . . Reality+ is frequently weird, wild and wonderful; it captivates the common reader by refusing to condescend."

The Washington Post - Jess Keiser

"Everyone should read this important book to understand where we may be heading and how it will be rationalized. "

The Sunday Times - Josh Glancy

"Far and away the most credible articulation of simulation theory to date."

Wired - Jason Kehe

"[A] stunning success. [Reality+] is well written, cleverly illustrated, and packed with useful distinctions and powerful arguments. It makes excellent use of both history and contemporary culture to help the general reader understand its key concepts."

John Schwenkler

"Chalmers is a joy: an exuberant guide through challenging terrain, quick with anecdotes and arguments, wit and wild ideas. "

The Times Literary Supplement - Kieran Setiya

2021-10-07
A survey of the history and future of philosophy for the digital age.

Following the massive success of The Matrix, the film received considered analyses from many big-name philosophers. Among these was Chalmers, whose academic paper “The Matrixas Metaphysics” is one of the high-water marks of the field. That article initiated the author into the philosophy of virtual reality, a subject to which he returns in this ambitious and encyclopedic attempt to think through seemingly all of philosophy in light of increasingly rapid technological implications. To his credit, Chalmers, the co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at NYU, injects new life into old philosophical problems via “technophilosophy,” a “combination of (1) asking philosophical questions about technology and (2) using technology to help answer traditional philosophical questions.” Arguments for God, the external world, utilitarianism, and many other concepts must be revisited if we take seriously the possibility that we could be living in a simulation. This is an emphatically contemporary work, and Chalmers seems overly enamored with the virtual; his speculation often reads like celebration. Advancing his view that the virtual is actually real, he writes, “artificiality of an environment is no bar to value. It’s true that some people value a natural environment, but this seems an optional value, and not one that makes the difference between a valuable and a valueless life.” The book is overstuffed with data of varying relevance—e.g., what percentage of professional philosophers holds which position, as if such numbers meant anything more than what is currently in fashion—and the author’s perambulations may appeal more to computer coders than philosophers. Oddly, Chalmers seems to assume that readers are largely unfamiliar with the foundations of philosophy and, at the same time, are deeply interested in what technology means for philosophy.

A book that proposes a philosophical revolution but offers mostly fun thought experiments.

Kirkus Reviews