Lets assume we develop the capacity to create virtual worlds that are near indistinguishable from the real world. We hook you up into a machine and you now find yourself in what effectively is a paraller reality where you get to be the king of your own universe (if you so desire). Nothing is off limits - everything you’ve ever dreamt of is possible. You can be the only person there, you can populate it with unconscious AI that appears consciouss or you can have other people visit your world and you can visit theirs aswell as spend time in “public worlds” with millions of other real people.
Would you try it and do you think you’d prefer it over real world? Do you see it as a negative from individual perspective if significant part of the population basically spend their entire lives there?
Yeah, it’s disconcerting to consider, but it actually sounds quite nice to me. Let my body work and be productive while my mind is happy and free. If you’re only really experiencing the latter, what does it matter what your body is doing (as long as it remains safe and healthy)? Particularly if you stay in that virtual reality permanently.