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Is our currently experienced reality a simulation?
ANDY HEDGECOCK recommends a book which is the perfect starting point for those with an interest in the possibilities of immersive technology

Reality+
by David J Chalmers
Allen Lane, hardback, £25

 

THIRTY-EIGHT years ago, I was struggling to understand the use of Boltzmann machines, cellular automata and neural networks in the simulation of human behaviour and development. Using these mathematical models as the basis for computer programmes was a challenge, but I was even more bemused by the philosophical implications of simulated worlds.

The experience might have been less perplexing if I’d had access to the thoughts and teaching of David J Chalmers, whose latest book is a comprehensive and painstaking study of simulation, consciousness, and being.

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