Joe Jenkins, <joe_jenkins@yahoo.com>, writes:
> Does not the fact that we can dream indicate that the compute power of
> our minds includes the compute power needed to run artificial
> environment simulations? Does this not provide an existence proof
> that realistic artificial environment simulations for uploaders should
> ultimately require relatively little compute power compared to the
> uploaded mind?
This may turn out to be true, but dreaming isn't quite like VR. With most of my dreams, much of my mind seems to be asleep. Bizarre events occur and I don't even notice. The story changes, I find myself somewhere else without actually going there, etc. As a dream author I seem to be quite incompetent, and the only thing which saves me is the inattention of my audience.
Creating a true artificial environment which can fool an alert, attentive mind will be a more difficult task. You may be correct that it will be easier than simulating a mind, which will no doubt require massive computing resources. But dreams don't make the case.
Hal