Ready Player One

When will the 'real' and 'virtual' merge?  in 2045 says visionary inventor Ray Kurzweil.  He calls that transition the 'Singularity.'  What used to fit in a building now fits in your pocket, and what fits in your pocket today will fit inside a blood cell in 25 years.  By 2045 we'll have multiplied the human-machine civilization a billionfold.  We will gain power over our fates.  Our mortality will be in our own hands.  Many focus on what they perceive as a loss of some vital aspect of our humanity.  The essence of being human is not our limitations, it is our ability to reach beyond our limitations.  The 'Singularity' offers the hope of an artificial afterlife, but it could also lead to our own extinction.  War, global warming,  or disease could all do us in, but what if it's our own technology?  

Author Ernest Cline discusses his book "Ready Player Two," anticipating virtual reality and exploring both the perils and potentials of internet technology.

Read the Book or Watch the Movie.   What's the Difference?

Discussion Questions for Ready Player One

Believe It Or Not!

 

At its most extreme, bias will drive people away from sources they disagree with and push them to consume only media from outlets that confirm their existing worldviews. In the age of social media, this has become especially true. Because we often surround ourselves with like-minded people as our friends and acquaintances, our social media feeds will often reflect a shared bias. At its most extreme application, we create an echo chamber, or a situation where ideas and beliefs are amplified and reinforced through communication and repetition, around ourselves.

1) Do you believe me? Why/ not?

2) How does this new information make you feel? Angry?  Sad?  Happy?  Glad? Why?

3) What is the 'backfire effect' and what can you do to counteract it?'