[SAO / Fate] Sword Art : Extend

[themasterwarlord]

Oh wow. The discussion between Kayaba and Noritaka just flew over my head. I can't understand the Mind-over-machine thing at all. Ah well.

[DreamsRequiem]

Not Mind over Machine. It's mind over Reality. Something Shirou does frequently.

[themasterwarlord]

Well I didn't understand the technical definitions of both mind-over-thingamajigs. The discussion involves both after all.

[JustBrowsing]

The gist seems to be that humans in a virtual reality can affect their reality the same way that a Magus can use magic to affect the real world.

I'm not sure if it is easier to affect the virtual world or the real, though. It seemed to be implied, given that all the virtual avatars showed the disturbance. Or is it just that the virtual reality is easier to modify than the real world, and so you don't need prana to fuel the changes?

[fallacies]

The gist seems to be that humans in a virtual reality can affect their reality the same way that a Magus can use magic to affect the real world.

I'm not sure if it is easier to affect the virtual world or the real, though. It seemed to be implied, given that all the virtual avatars showed the disturbance. Or is it just that the virtual reality is easier to modify than the real world, and so you don't need prana to fuel the changes?

Something along those lines, yeah.

@ themasterwarlord: Simplified, the avatars of the test subjects in Kayaba's 3D simulation are surrounded by a spherical field of unexplained data distortion. The headsets the subjects are using aren't inputting any data to the system, so Kayaba is confused about why this is happening. Compared to other similar devices, the only thing different about Kayaba's headset design is that it taps into the parts of the brain that allow for spatial sense to work.

Mind-Over-Machine: In science fiction, characters are sometimes able to control machines or data with their mind. See: The Matrix.
Mind-Over-Reality: In thaumaturgy, magi are capable of imposing their will over reality to a limited extent.
Observer Effect: In quantum physics, the act of observation or measurement results directly in changes to the object of observation. Modern theories suggest that this is because observation itself is a sort of unseen interaction with the object. (Noritaka describes the Observer Effect as 'establishing jurisdiction over new spaces encountered.')

Emiya Noritaka is asserting to Kayaba that what's happening inside his experiment is a Mind-Over-Reality phenomenon, or an Observer Effect. He suggests that this is actually a common phenomenon that has contributed to the reality that humans now live within, even if we aren't aware of it. Also, he believes that the reason Kayaba's colleagues don't seem to care about this irregular phenomenon is due to the action of the Counter Force; Kayaba isn't affected because he has strayed from "the common sense of man."

It would be extremely helpful to me if you could point out the parts of the snippet that you specifically felt to be unclear.

[JustBrowsing]

So basically there are effects like this occurring in real life, but they are so miniscule that nobody has ever noticed them? Or the Counter Force (via "common sense") keeps people from noticing?

[fallacies]

@ JustBrowsing: People without thaumaturgical capabilities spend the majority of their lives within a vast communal "jurisdiction," whose features are largely defined by a shared unconscious that treats individual humans as terminals. The Counter Force of Alaya is a result of this. The phenomenon of "establishing jurisdiction" isn't generally observed, because "jurisdiction" has already been established. In other words, said phenomenon would be most visible in areas that are "Frontiers."

[themasterwarlord]

Wow, thanks. Sorry you had to explain it to me in detail.

It would be extremely helpful to me if you could point out the parts of the snippet that you specifically felt to be unclear.

I don't think it'd actually be unclear to other people, I was just not used to such technical terms. Last time I used/read English technical terms was in high school, so my brain is just unable to decode the text properly nowadays, lol.