Abstract
Today with the advent of ever-increasing scientific advances, we are on the threshold of better understanding why consciousness evolved and how it works. This became apparent when the computational semblance of the mind faltered when neuroscientists and philosophers realized that awareness was not merely digital. However, with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality, and mixed reality (MR), our models of how consciousness functions are becoming much clearer to grasp since we now have the ability to simulate in four dimensions an all-encompassing environment artificially. Consciousness is a forging mechanism, which by its attentional posturing enables it to fully immerse in a world of its own making, even as it remains mostly unaware of how such a magical performance occurs. Using VR and MR as touchstones allows us to better appreciate how our brains construct the world around us. By exploring manufactured VR accouterments and the varied vistas they can create, we have––perhaps for the first time in our history––the necessary tools to synthetically reconstruct how the brain perceives and interacts with reality. This essay is an examination of how the advent of virtual reality changes our understanding of human consciousness and how future researches will benefit by employing its many iterations.
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Notes
- 1.
Also refer to the short film elaborating on how the cave analogy can be likened to the brain and its limitations, https://youtu.be/lTHLptra6WA
- 2.
See the filmed lecture I presented to the philosophy club at the University of California, Irvine, which elaborates on his desktop metaphor in contradistinction to a more updated, VR analogy, https://youtu.be/0DJuOXRs38M
- 3.
In the short film, The Radiant Form: How Mixed Reality Will Transform Us and the World We Live In, I elaborate on how computer scientists are demonstrating how augmenting our day-to-day world (via glasses or some other device) will transform how we experience the world. See https://youtu.be/2jU_WodDnRc
- 4.
For more on the concept of maya (both from religion and science), see Lane and Diem-Lane (2017) and the film based on the text, https://youtu.be/YckgH_T8BUA
- 5.
Also see Patricia Churchland’s explanation of eliminative materialism: https://youtu.be/xrFqhOvNtWM. Also refer to very short three-part video series, “Eliminative Materialism,” https://youtu.be/dZmue10YKvc
- 6.
Also refer to the film, Hanging on the Gallows, https://youtu.be/EGpCa6nZM3A
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Lane, D.C. (2024). The Rendered Universe: Why Virtual Reality Unlocks the Secret of Consciousness. In: Satsangi, P.S., Horatschek, A.M., Srivastav, A. (eds) Consciousness Studies in Sciences and Humanities: Eastern and Western Perspectives. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13920-8_9
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