Noise in the Virtual Hotel

Dennett contrasts incidental interactions in physical worlds with the selective causal structure of virtual worlds. Sound leakage and other side effects must be included in a simulation before they can become signals or creative resources within it.

A physical setting contains incidental interactions whether or not a designer intended them. A simulation includes only the interactions represented or generated by its implementation. A virtual room need not transmit sound to its neighbor unless such a channel is included, making silence an assumption rather than an achievement.

This difference matters when incidental effects can become useful cues or sources of invention. Adding arbitrary randomness is not the same as representing meaningful physical coupling. Decide which omitted interactions could change the phenomenon being studied and whether their inclusion earns its computational and explanatory cost.

When to use it

Use when evaluating simulations of complex environments or exploring how incidental effects can become material for learning and creativity.

How it can help

Inspect which interactions a model omits and whether those omissions matter for the target behavior. Add justified causal detail rather than assuming arbitrary noise supplies realism.