Virtual Life

I was listening to Ray Kurzweil speak on the radio today mostly about concepts detailed in his book "Singularity Is Near."

One thing he said caught my attention because my initial reaction was "impossible" - but then I remembered another book I read and then understood how this could be feasible.

Before I explain, it's worth noting that Ray Kurzweil is widely regarded as a futurist whose predictions actually come true.  things like - world expansion of the internet.  Bill Gates and others admire his predictive ability openly.

That said, today on the radio (pre-recorded) Kurzweil said (and I paraphrase) - that in the future, the virtual experience will be created by merging humans with the machines by way of nanotechnology which can work with the brain to give it the experience you desire.  It could create an entire world for you to be immersed in or simply give you instant links and information regarding your environment.

That's around when I thought "nooooo."

Then I remembered a book I read years ago called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat."  This is the stories from a psychiatrist who treated people with various mental disorders.  And it is very documented that humans do have the ability to have mental illnesses which cause them to do things like mistake someone for a hat.  There are many stories, but the book's name is taken from one of them.  This man literally thought his wife was a hat and would try to put her on his head.  It sounds ridiculous.  But there are storeis of people imagining or confusing all kinds of things.   That's when I realize... yes, the brain is capable of this and just as this technology might be able to help rewire that man's brain back to normality - it could be used to fool you into anything.   I can see it now...  "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Porn Star.... intentionally"  Hmmmmm.