Hypothetical technology you couldn't adjust to.

savageoblivi0n

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usmarine4160 said:
generals3 said:
You won't ever get me to use e-books so you don't even need hypothetical technology for something i won't ever adjust to. I like my reading material in paper, thankyouverymuch.
I will be giving these e-books a try as I hate shit lying around cluttering up the place. If I can reduce an entire shelf to one little tablet then so be it.
I was given a Nook last xmas and to be honest it's actually greatly increased the amount that I read since I can fit about 50 books in my pocket now. XD
 

F4LL3N

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Tree man said:
Virtual reality.

I'm paranoid right now, the horror of realizing that my entire life could be nothing but a fabricated program inserted into my mind at my own request no less as a form of escapism would break me into millions of pieces.

Think total recall but with more gore and less bad facial morphing effects.
Virtual reality is basically the ultimate gaming platform. Once we have that, there's nothing else to improve on. You'd be able to play Pokemon in real life, have a zombie apocalypse, and that's only the beginning. I probably wouldn't even care if I spent 23 1/2 hours a day lying on a chair with absolutely no sunlight or human contact.
 

Rowan93

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If the future thinks it has tech up its eleven-dimensional robotic futuresleeves that I won't be able to deal with, I have one thing to say to it: "Come at me bro"
 

Korenith

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Tree man said:
F4LL3N said:
Tree man said:
Virtual reality.

I'm paranoid right now, the horror of realizing that my entire life could be nothing but a fabricated program inserted into my mind at my own request no less as a form of escapism would break me into millions of pieces.

Think total recall but with more gore and less bad facial morphing effects.
Virtual reality is basically the ultimate gaming platform. Once we have that, there's nothing else to improve on. You'd be able to play Pokemon in real life, have a zombie apocalypse, and that's only the beginning. I probably wouldn't even care if I spent 23 1/2 hours a day lying on a chair with absolutely no sunlight or human contact.
But that's the thing, how do you know if what your playing isn't real and the supposedly 'real' life isn't some delusion brought up by your zombie addled mind.

*Shudder*
But is it important? I mean, if you can't tell the difference between reality and VR then surely you should just pick the best one and live there? That's what I never got about the matrix. Oh no we're living in a VR program where we can potentially live a vaguely agreeable lifestyle rather than running from squid robots and eating tasteless mush. Screw that! Plug me in and use my body as a freaky battery. As long as I don't know the difference I couldn't care less.

Reality is all about perception.
 

Shoggoth2588

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Tilted_Logic said:
...to virtual reality hubs that allow us to explore the world safely, removing the inclination to actually go outside and see things for ourselves.
Like in that movie, Surrogates? Assuming we get to that point, I would be highly uncomfortable living in general if we got there to be honest. I wouldn't want to use a surrogate but I would know that most people would be using one. It wouldn't make me want to kill myself, I would just feel extremely vulnerable (more so that I do now anyway). Especially considering that I wouldn't want to get one on lease and probably couldn't afford to buy one outright. Once enough people get one jobs won't want default humans doing potentially strenuous work.

Surrogates aside, nano-machines. By which I mean, if we get to the point where we can have a nano-machine injection once every X years. If I was born into it fine but having grown up in the age of LOLzsec, Anon and, computer viruses in general, I've seen how vulnerable high-security installations can be broken into. One hack-attack on a nano-machine's programming hub could taint a batch of the bastards and wreck unknown havok on the people who've been injected. I would assume that anyway, the punk kids getting injected wouldn't know or, care.

One more! Teleportation. Star-Trek style wherein all of your cells are broken down and reassembled elsewhere in the space between one second and the next. For this one I wouldn't do it mainly because it would mean I'd be disintegrated in one spot and a perfect copy of me would reappear in another. That copy would go about his business while the original me would be fucking dead. There would be no way of knowing if my current, original consciousness can survive that type of transportation because the only person who can say so is you, yourself. Of course your perfect copy will say "Well gosh, that was easy." but the you who stepped on pod A down the road will have been reduced to less than a memory.

kman123 said:
When games go 100% digital that's when I'll stop gaming. Sort of.
Also this: Once games are 100% digital I'll likely only game on my phone or MP3 player, and on the physical consoles I've collected through the years.

Edit:

I was just on Facebook and found that an ex is in a new relationship. This would be the ex who I dumped flat out and while I'm glad to see that she's moved on, I am deeply, deeply curious as to how she's adjusted. I still can't help but think about random people who dumped me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Unlike the random dumpings though, this is someone with whom I've spent a lot of time; someone with whom I've shared five or six years previously. All that being said, I would embrace the technology to see all things past if only to see how I've effected other people. The dumping was likely the worst single thing I've ever done to a single person (at least it feels like that to me some times) and I am morbidly curious to know what came of her and what became of the other people who dumped me instead. I don't care if future generations watch me relive every horrible thing I've ever done so long as I can get some closure. To go back to Facebook and my ex apparently being in a new relationship, I feel a sense of closure because of it. Still though, I'm curious about the in-between bits.
 

II Scarecrow II

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F4LL3N said:
Tree man said:
Virtual reality.

I'm paranoid right now, the horror of realizing that my entire life could be nothing but a fabricated program inserted into my mind at my own request no less as a form of escapism would break me into millions of pieces.

Think total recall but with more gore and less bad facial morphing effects.
Virtual reality is basically the ultimate gaming platform. Once we have that, there's nothing else to improve on. You'd be able to play Pokemon in real life, have a zombie apocalypse, and that's only the beginning. I probably wouldn't even care if I spent 23 1/2 hours a day lying on a chair with absolutely no sunlight or human contact.
Virtual Reality Zombie Apolcalypse.

BEST IDEA EVER.

That just got me thinking how amazing it would be to actual experience that level of immersion. Someone invent VR NOW.
 

Vivi22

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Mortai Gravesend said:
This disturbs me somewhat as well. What if Valve goes out of business? Then what happens to all my games on Steam? Looking ahead at the more distant future that is, in the near future that's not likely to happen. And having a physical copy makes it really feel like you own the game to me...
If Valve went out of business, in the worst case scenario, it's no different than what happens when the last NES or SNES dies. Consoles don't last forever and neither do cartridges, CD's, DVD's or Blu-Ray's. At least with digital distribution if Valve did go under, there's the possibility of them letting everyone download DRM free versions of what they bought before the servers shut down. Though as OS's and hardware change and companies don't support titles anymore, even playing DRM free games without some level of emulation will become difficult, if not impossible.

To be honest, that secure feeling people get from having a physical copy of a game is largely smoke and mirrors. Thank the interwebs for emulation.

As to the topic at hand, I'm not sure there is a technology I couldn't adapt to, though if there is, it'd be anything that has the potential to violate my privacy as completely and persistently as the window in time mentioned in the OP. I can certainly see the appeal of a culture where nothing is really taboo and everyone is very open about everything, but it's a tough thing to wrap your head around living in when you're as firmly in the camp of individual rights as I am.

EDIT: Virtual Reality ala the Matrix just occurred to me as well. While it would seem cool as a gamer to simply plug into the game and get a completely immersive sensory experience, when the simulation becomes indistinguishable from reality I don't think I could handle that. Not being able to know for sure that you're actually awake and interacting with the real world is a terrifying prospect when you think about it.
 

Doitpow

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Internet in your brain. Sounds great but I will never get it until consumption driven capitalism is well and truly dead.
I'm not a raving left winger, but even the IDEA that a corporation could advertise IN MY BRAIN makes me want to vomit.
Watch the second episode of "Black Mirror" or read "Feed" if you disagree, not saying it'll sway you against brain computers, but you'll at least see what I'm so scared of.
 

ThunderCavalier

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Due to this one Cracked article [http://www.cracked.com/article_15655_5-awesome-sci-fi-inventions-that-would-actually-suck.html], my views of some futuristic technology has been biased to the point where any conversation like this will have me bring up the Star Trek Matter Replicators.

Because, as Cracked puts it simply, any technology that is able to perfectly replicate any object in existence would crash the entire economy.
 

HardkorSB

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Tilted_Logic said:
You can view anything from the past.

Anytime, anywhere. You know what this means? It means if your neighbour is a pervert, he can watch when you undressed last night. Rabid fans could watch their favorite stars make love. Every single embarrassing and personal moment of your life is available to anyone with the inclination.
Haven't read that but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't let just anyone use that thing and even if they did, I imagine that it would be rather expensive (if not the equipment itself then the energy used to open that window) so unless your perverted neighbor has some shares in Apple, I don't think he could watch you.
But if everyone had access to it all the time, there would surely be some laws and regulations for it. Plus, it would be nice if no one could ever lie about something and get away with it. Imagine how politics would look :) I think that in the long run, it would be a change for the better.
Also, I don't care about someone watching me take a shower, or even fuck. Call me crazy but I just don't.

As for the topic, I think that I am intelligent enough to learn how to use even the most sophisticated of human inventions and I can adapt to pretty much any living conditions and lifestyle.
 

F4LL3N

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Tree man said:
But that's the thing, how do you know if what your playing isn't real and the supposedly 'real' life isn't some delusion brought up by your zombie addled mind.

*Shudder*
I wouldn't care. I would love to permanantly live in a Pokemon or Final Fantasy world. And if it sends you crazy? Well, most illegal drugs already do this, not to mention other mental illnesses.

But still. There'd probably be safeguards to prevent that.

II Scarecrow II said:
Virtual Reality Zombie Apolcalypse.

BEST IDEA EVER.

That just got me thinking how amazing it would be to actual experience that level of immersion. Someone invent VR NOW.
I'd prefer Pokemon, Final Fantasy or Star Wars. Zombies in real life would actually be quite scary, even if you're into gore. Walking mutilated corpses chasing you? Ahh. But if I knew it wasn't real I would do it. Although, one time I did have the best zombie apocolypse dream ever.
 

Kiardras

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Tilted_Logic said:
Rabid fans could watch their favorite stars make love.

You mean I can watch Hayley Williams in the shower? Hell Yeah!

Ahem. Ok, in all seriousness, I tend to embrace any and all new technology. I love how interconnected everything is becoming, I can't imagine anything that would worry me (well, other than people watching me shower 2 years in the past.... but I guess I would adapt).
 

Chairman Miaow

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Korenith said:
Tree man said:
F4LL3N said:
Tree man said:
Virtual reality.

I'm paranoid right now, the horror of realizing that my entire life could be nothing but a fabricated program inserted into my mind at my own request no less as a form of escapism would break me into millions of pieces.

Think total recall but with more gore and less bad facial morphing effects.
Virtual reality is basically the ultimate gaming platform. Once we have that, there's nothing else to improve on. You'd be able to play Pokemon in real life, have a zombie apocalypse, and that's only the beginning. I probably wouldn't even care if I spent 23 1/2 hours a day lying on a chair with absolutely no sunlight or human contact.
But that's the thing, how do you know if what your playing isn't real and the supposedly 'real' life isn't some delusion brought up by your zombie addled mind.

*Shudder*
So basically, if this was the Matrix, you would be Cypher. You treacherous bastard!

But is it important? I mean, if you can't tell the difference between reality and VR then surely you should just pick the best one and live there? That's what I never got about the matrix. Oh no we're living in a VR program where we can potentially live a vaguely agreeable lifestyle rather than running from squid robots and eating tasteless mush. Screw that! Plug me in and use my body as a freaky battery. As long as I don't know the difference I couldn't care less.

Reality is all about perception.
That would make you Cypher if it were the Matrix. You treacherous bastard.
 

Patathatapon

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If we ever get to the point where we have computer chips inserted into our skin, tracking our every location, every movement, every beat of our heart, I would NOT be able to adapt. If it was not as safe, I could cared less. Partly because I'm Christian, but mostly because I don't want EVERYONE knowing where I am.
 

Tilted_Logic

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HardkorSB said:
Tilted_Logic said:
You can view anything from the past.

Anytime, anywhere. You know what this means? It means if your neighbour is a pervert, he can watch when you undressed last night. Rabid fans could watch their favorite stars make love. Every single embarrassing and personal moment of your life is available to anyone with the inclination.
Haven't read that but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't let just anyone use that thing and even if they did, I imagine that it would be rather expensive (if not the equipment itself then the energy used to open that window) so unless your perverted neighbor has some shares in Apple, I don't think he could watch you.
But if everyone had access to it all the time, there would surely be some laws and regulations for it. Plus, it would be nice if no one could ever lie about something and get away with it. Imagine how politics would look :) I think that in the long run, it would be a change for the better.
Also, I don't care about someone watching me take a shower, or even fuck. Call me crazy but I just don't.

As for the topic, I think that I am intelligent enough to learn how to use even the most sophisticated of human inventions and I can adapt to pretty much any living conditions and lifestyle.
Well, regardless of how they intended the technology to be used in the book, the means by which you'd actually view the past was widely available and extremely small (to the point where people got eye implants so they could watch the past whenever they desired). There was no regulation, because as far as I recall anyone could get their hands on the device. I read the book a while ago, so I'm a little rusty on specifics, but I do know that pretty much everyone and their brother had the time viewer in some form or another to the point where no one really controlled it anymore.
 

TheLastSamurai14

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Mortai Gravesend said:
What if Valve goes out of business? Then what happens to all my games on Steam?
Valve has stated that in the event they go bankrupt, they'll back up all game files to a permanent server, allowing us to still access our games. If all else fails, put Steam into offline mode before they officially close down and make sure to keep backups of your games in case of hard drive failure.

But that's the worst case scenario, and hopefully it won't come to that within our lifetimes, or ever, for that matter.