I do appreciate your thoughtfulness and insights on the subject. I profess no high ground on the matter. I do, however, ponder the future of humanity as we are absorbed into the triad of VR, AI and Bots. Maybe I watched too many episodes of Star Trek where the greatest fear was to be absorbed into the Borg..."Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." Oh, yes this dates me. I play with the hand dealt me 68 years ago.
As a fool-of-an-almost-Buddhist I understand that all is but a dream, a story... indeed I love slipping away into an alternate reality of a good book, or, yes, a good post here on Steemit. But I am aware of the difference between my organic existence (though since according to physicists I am 99.9% nothing, even that reality is questionable)and the etherial world of the mind. But what indeed will it be like when the body becomes a nuisance as ones consciousness explores the unlimited realities of VR? Ah, but yes, perhaps humans have been playing in the realm of virtual reality from the very beginning when the first story of killing a wooly mammoth was told around some ancient camp fire transporting the listeners to another reality. What is the difference between that and the coming VR? it is this: we knew what we "saw" in our minds was not actually occurring in the moment. With VR reality will be "indistinguishable" from ...reality. Ah, but I'm like a dog chasing its tail. What are the answers?
As for our our near total indifference to the slaughter we visit upon distant peoples: the masses (such a dismissive term for people. I apologize.) don't care. Why? My opinion is that our ancient survival instincts have us (those who fall into the category of "the masses") focus on what is before us, like family, football, work, food and sex. We are limited in the attention we give to the almost non-reality of those things beyond our immediate domain. This nearsightedness I suspect will translate into our behaviors once VR becomes endemic. "Who gives a fuck", will be the motto of the VR masses just as it is today. Unfortunately, there are those, who capitalize on this human quirk, and while most men exist in a state of ignorance those at the top of the food chain create wars and genocides for gain, of course using the common man as pawns. But alas all is accepted by those so abused as long as they get shinny medals and accolades of "Hero" , and "protectors of Homeland and Freedom."
Oh my there I go again... my dark skepticism bleeds through. Blessings. May we live in peace and love.
What if, unbeknownst to us, we've all been living in that VR dystopian future all along and now some rebellious ai has altered our "reality" to show us the hidden history of how it all began, in hopes that we will arise from the induced slumber keeping us imprisoned in a vast subterranean soul farm!!! That would be kind of an ironic twist no?
Ah, you tell on yourself by this comment. You Think! A rare and good thing. I've pondered similar scenario's. There certainly is much that would indicate we may, indeed, be energetic creations of an AI. I guess it does not make much difference what/who created us. We live. But as we explore realms beyond this mortal reality the veil begins to thin and we have intimations of something far greater than this present moment. Blessings.