Reality+ Quotes

“Simulations are not illusions. Virtual worlds are real. Virtual objects really exist.”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“Here’s my view of these things. Our minds are part of reality, but there’s a great deal of reality outside our minds. Reality contains our world and it may contain many others. We can build new worlds and new parts of reality. We know a little about reality, and we can try to know more. There may be parts of it that we can never know. Most importantly: Reality exists, independently of us. The truth matters. There are truths about reality, and we can try to find them. Even in an age of multiple realities, I still believe in objective reality”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“Technophilosophy is a combination of (1) asking philosophical questions about technology and (2) using technology to help answer traditional philosophical questions.”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“A common view of knowledge, going back to Plato, is that knowledge is justified, true belief. To know something, you have to think it’s true (that’s belief), you have to be right about it (that’s truth), and you have to have good reasons for believing it (that’s justification).”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“Figure 35 Princess Elisabeth and René Descartes in Minecraft.”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“We need to make decisions right now about how we use video games, smartphones, and the internet. An increasing number of such practical questions will confront us in decades to come. As we spend more and more time in virtual worlds, we’ll have to grapple with the issue of whether life there is fully meaningful. Eventually, we may have to decide whether or not to upload ourselves to the cloud entirely. Thinking philosophically can help us get clear on these decisions about how to live our lives.”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

“I’m not Frodo and you’re not Gandalf.”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy