Cobb Test

1. Cobb Test

   #1

   The Turing test is the name given to the test that determines if a machine is actually sentient or just really clever at looking like it is.
   
   The Cobb test is the name given to the test that a person does to determine if they are indeed in reality, or if they are in a simulation. Following the Maia experiment and Project Infinity, the fear of becoming lost in a simulation, or being placed in a simulation against your will or without your knowledge, is a serious concern.
   
   Pinch me, I must be dreaming - would be the dream version of the Cobb test. This wouldn't work in the majority of immersive simluations since pain sensations are just another feedback loop and aren't going to kick you out of the simulation.
   
   So, what is the Cobb test?
   
   I don't want to have everyone in the CogNet toting around a pocket full of knickknacks and totems to see if they are in reality or a dream.
   
   Thoughts, suggestions?

2. Re: Cobb Test

   #2

   Not sure knicknacks and totems can totally be avoided.
   
   You carry a phylactery which only you can open(true end to end encryption, infinitely strong password, Cosmic Era Handwavium), and inside is a phrase only you would know.
   
   

3. Re: Cobb Test

   #3

   I would say that things like Peripheral area networks people are going to see things like consistent heads up displays, where you would see things like a person's public identity, general rating, and so forth, and the CogNet would look a lot like a Matrix version of an MMO, but if it were designed by Apple, Amazon, and the rest of the public mega-corporations. There would be 'eject' buttons, and 'Log Out' functions. 
   
   The Cobb Test could certainly be a totem or 'what's in my pocket' test, but with the system being cognitive and immersive, I could see these sorts of tests failing because if you know something, the machine server is going to know it as well.
   
   I think the Cobb test is going to be something that is random, and that the system wouldn't anticipate, or have an answer to, or the answer it would have would betray it's nature. Dramatic things would work, if you get hit by a car in a sim, you're fine. That's a terrible test, in case you are slightly disoriented and you jump in front of a real vehicle.
   
   Like could the Cobb Test be as simple as talking gibberish to someone and see how they react?

4. Re: Cobb Test

   #4

   If the machine knows everything you do, then I guess being 'you' has become irrelevant in this world.
   I remember thinking about this a long time ago and once convention I had was that the color of the sky would be by default green as opposed to blue in a simulated universe. Of course, that was assuming a benevolent environment with no intent on deception.
   
   I think given machines that know everything you do, and complete immersion, a true Cobb test seems impossible to me. Apart from the obviously terminal ones.
   
   

5. Re: Cobb Test

   #5

   Orphean Maneuver
   
   The Orphean Maneuver is not recommended except in the most dire circumstances. The Orphean Maneuver simply requires the person to commit suicide, specifically in a manner where it is a function of the system that will cause the death of their avatar. One cannot follow trope swallowing pills or slitting wrists but more along the lines of jumping in front of a train or a bus, or some act where their actions are both fatal, and disruptive to the system. The CogNet is sneaking up on a century old, so people are almost never trapped in the system, and many of the VR world tropes are circumvented by common sense and safety systems.
   
   Analog Solution
   
   The old chestnut is that if you forcibly unplug someone from virtual reality or the dream world, or whatever, they will die, or will be lobotomized. Has no one heard of circuit breakers, buffers, or any of the other safety equipment and common sense things that prevent this. In the CE, if someone is 'lost' in the net, you break the connection, they crash out of the simulation, and might be disoriented and maybe pissed off, but the machine isn't going to pulp someone's brain. Unless... they have been deliberately hacked with serious malware, or their hardware itself has been tampered with. The CogNet equivalent of cutting the break lines.
   
   

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