The BIV
Minds and Machines
The BIV Scenario
• We have no body, just a brain in nutrient fluid.
• Our brain generates our experiences from
stimulus given to it from a supercomputer.
• No detectable difference between VR world
the real world.
…philosophical questions raised with this
“thought experiment”…
Questions raised…
• (1) I could be a BIV, so do I really know I am at
plenary? (what do we really know?).
– Can we be sure of anything
– Descartes
(2) Is a perfect illusion really an illusion?
– If this right now were really just a computer
simulation, would it matter? Would it be less real
– Would our passions/relationships/hopes be any less
valuable?
more interesting question:
Is our real “brain in a skull” state any less
puzzling than the sci-fi BIV case?
– brain still generates experience from input.
– still big possible mismatch between experience
and reality
– Plato
Real issue: what is the relationship between the
mind/body or mind/physical world?
• …OK, movie time!