by Derek Morrison, 27 September 2009
Wilf Self’s review of the life of J.G.Ballard on BBC R4 last night (Archive on 4 – Self on Ballard) contained some direct quotes from the late author whose works included Myths of the Near Future and whose 1984 novel/auto-biography was the engine behind Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun.
About 48 minutes in to the hour long programme Ballard describes his view of a world of “inner space” that may be appreciated by Matrix fans but send a shudder down the spines of those concerned with the new construct of “techno-addiction”.
“I take for granted that virtual reality systems will be available to us that create a simulated reality that is more convincing than that which our central nervous system create … we must remember that the brain is itself a virtual reality machine, the illusion we have of the real world … is itself a virtual reality simulation generated by our brains … I think when the first true virtual reality systems become available and contain more visual information and our more visually convincing than ordinary reality the temptation for the human race will be to enter this virtual reality system and close the door behind it … one will be able to enter a fantasy world which unlike all fantasies in the past will be more convincing than everyday reality beyond the bounds of conventional morality altogether … one would be morally free to play with one’s own psychopathology as a game and that’s rather dangerous to put in mildly”
In the same programme Ballard also suggests that ” … reality is just a stage set that is just to be pushed aside and another set of rules applied“. He, after all, had seen such rules pushed brutally aside in the dramatic change to his childhood experiences in Shanghai as described and portrayed in Empire of the Sun.
