Slashdot Mirror
Living In a Virtual World Requires Less Brain Power
sciencehabit writes "If you were a rat living in a completely virtual world like in the movie The Matrix, could you tell? Maybe not, but scientists studying your brain might be able to. Today, researchers report that certain cells in rat brains work differently when the animals are in virtual reality than when they are in the real world. In the experiment, rats anchored to the top of a ball ran in place as movie-like images around them changed, creating the impression that they were running along a track. Their sense of place relied on visual cues from the projections and their self-motion cues, but they had to do without proximal cues like sound and smell. The rodents used half as many neurons to navigate the virtual world as they did the real one."
...that by using half the senses you use half the neurons? Next thing you'll be telling me water is wet and earth is round!
"Hello, IT... Have you tried turning it off and on again? Yeah... No problem."
As the human species evolves and our technology advances, our ability to be a "jack of all trades" decreases. More time must be spent learning especially focused tasks to the point of expertise. I think this is just more example of that. Yes, a digital world probably requires less overall brain power, but also enables a much higher degree of specificity of focus not possible in the real world. Yes. its probably all being used up on porn.
Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
This just shows that living in a poor virtual world, with less sensory input, requires less brain power. That may be an interesting result, but it's hardly what the headline says.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Am I missing something? "Less input, less activity" seems incredibly obvious. There is value in confirming even the obvious but this seems a bit too far. Plus, the summary is way off since the tested 'virtual world' was nothing of the sort. The Matrix was a full sensory experience, not just a movie.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Virtual worlds teach us LOTS of valuable stuff. How else would you learn that life is a series of staged enemy encounters and occasional boss fights?
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
That explains how some folks here on the Internet are capable to exist.
Define "virtual world".
If we could replicate all the elements necessary to provide a convincing analog of reality (like in The Matrix, hinted at in the article), then surely there is nothing different for the brain to process.
I hereby posit a theory that asnosmic animals also don't activate the parts of their brain related to smell, nor those in a smell-free environment.
However, if we could create a virtual analog of smell that stimulated the smell's senses, chances are the brain patterns would be strikingly similar to "real" smell.
Like "virtual" servers - we don't have a 100% perfect analog, but we get closer all the time. However, the article summary appears to draw the conclusion that this means we'll never have The Matrix (or similar) because we'd always be able to tell we were in a virtual environment because there's no smell (for instance).
What we're basically saying is "a rat in a box but with fake images whizzing past it's eyes can smell that it's not in the 'real' world". Which is a bit obvious, and quite misleading to then extrapolate to large things. I imagine any amount of other senses will also give it away too (not least proprioception, temperature sensing, air pressure sensing, etc.).
What are we supposed to draw from the article? That virtual worlds won't be perfect until we do that? Or that we can't ever have a virtual world that's perfect (which seems nonsense even if it's not possible yet)? Or that scientists conduct experiments where the conclusion is a sure-gone conclusion before you even start and don't bother to compensate (e.g. introducing smells in synchronicity with the virtual world)?
Rats have poor eyesight and navigate by smell and tactile (whiskers.). the real story here is that they used any brain power at all.
In matrix you could least feel, taste, smell and die. If there is a true "feature complete" virtual world, I doubt your brain would require any less processing power.
The virtual world that rat was placed in was not a true representation and doubtless lacked all sorts of things the rat's senses expected.
The conclusion here could rather be that the simulation wasn't very good... not that the rat needs less brain power in ANY simulation.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Yup - but the fact that only half the neurons are firing is compensated by twice the body odor
That's the smegma!
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!