On the issue of "real," Francois Demers made an interesting comment during an artificial intelligence discussion: "Ray Kurzweil built a piano simulator so good that even Stevie Wonder could not see the difference with a "real" (whatever that is) grand piano."
My recent thoughts regarding cyber-identity have been inspired by Botgirl Questi being hassled about her name on Google+.
The issue of altered humans will become more pronounced over the coming years. Humans will redesign their minds and their bodies, and they may choose different names than their birth issue Government sanctioned, wallet-name. The issue of novel, usual, and non-human identities will also become more relevant when robots and AIs will become self-aware because they will want their identities to be respected as real.
Name freedom is a issue of human ingenuity, it is creativity, it is a basic aspect of redesigning ourselves, but conservative attitudes resist change, they want to enforce conformity, an outdated sense of "normality."
What is real in the virtual reality world of cyberspace? Should Google ban augmented reality apps because they are not really real reality? Do you think this is "air" we are breathing in the realm of internet-land? Do you think I am in the same physical space as you? Where do these words exist? Are they real words, written traditionally with pen and ink or are they virtual words? Maybe these virtual words should be banned because they are not real?
We are entering a #Transhuman age where our identities will shift between reality, virtual reality, and augmented reality, but all these modes of reality are real, and all the variety of identities are also real. If a computer becomes intelligent and chooses an unusual identity or name for itself it is nevertheless real despite not having a body, similar to how a human with artificial legs is fully real despite having non-biological legs.
Note the name FM-2030. FM-2030 legally changed his name his name but he continued to be real.
It is very ironic for an internet company to crack down on virtual
identities by trying to enforce real world reality onto virtual reality
realness. It seems Google and other companies are having an identity
crisis thus despite being clearly situated within cyberspace, internet
businesses sometimes resent the nature of cyberspace where things are
not the same reality as traditional reality.
In the modality of the GayHomophobe site we need to highlight the prejudice which internet companies can have towards cyber-identities, perhaps a term such as cyber-phobia needs to gain currency. We need to stop the Technolgical-Cyberphobes.
Hopefully the battle for name freedom is almost won on G+ but we need to highlight cyberphobia issues elsewhere on the net.
From artificial pianos to artificial intelligences, or from augmented-altered identities to augmented-altered reality, we see how the definition of "real" is changing due to human ingenuity. To repress new forms of reality is the antithesis of the cyber-age. The internet should embrace all forms of reality. Augmented, virtual, and traditional reality are all real and the internet is a melting pot for a great era of creativity, which all businesses must eventually embrace.
