# Conscious Experience May Already Be a Virtual Model of Reality by Thomas Metzinger > “In 1995, Finnish philosopher Antti Revonsuo already pointed out how conscious experience exactly is a virtual model of the world, a dynamic internal simulation, which in standard situations cannot be experienced as a virtual model because it is phenomenally transparent—we “look through it” as if we were in direct and immediate contact with reality.” > **— Thomas Metzinger**, *2016, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Virtual Reality Goes Mainstream: A Complex Convolution](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26699) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 2016 Annual Question collection, *WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2016 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2016 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas|Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas]] - **Article:** [[articles/Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks and the Allen Institute|Cortical Networks]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Simulation Hypothesis|Simulation Hypothesis]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Simulation Hypothesis|Simulation Hypothesis]] - [[wiki/Thomas Metzinger|Thomas Metzinger]] - [[wiki/Predictive Processing|Predictive Processing]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “In 1995, Finnish philosopher Antti Revonsuo already pointed out how conscious experience exactly is a virtual model of the world, a dynamic internal simulation, which in standard situations cannot be experienced as a virtual model because it is phenomenally transparent—we “look through it” as if we were in direct and immediate contact with reality.” — Thomas Metzinger, 2016, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-thomas-metzinger-conscious-experience-already-virtual-model-reality ```