A pool with no handle
I've talked to a lot of people my age about their experience with the Sims as children (given my age, we're talking Sims 1 or 2 during it's heyday). Most of us, at some point, in some way, tortured these innocent little people. We put them in the pool and removed the handle, or threw them in a burning building and removed the door. We didn't do this out of malice or anger, but out of curiosity. I see now, that we just to see how the system behaved. As disturbing as the act seems, we all stop doing it after eventually discover how it's going to play out. We become bored.
When I was young, I burnt an ant with a magnifying glass. I had either heard about it or saw it on TV, I can't remember. This though, was not at all like the Sims. Seeing a real living thing shrivel up in agony did not give me the satisfaction of learning how a system behaved; it did not bore me; it made me feel sorrow and regret.
Perhaps there's something in us that can tell even the most convincing simulations from reality. That real, complex life, is different than systems built by human being. Perhaps we'll soon find out.
#agi