Comment by _wire_
14 hours ago
Not only do most people believe with all their hearts that flashing lights on the face of the TV are actual people going through the actual situations presented, there's an entire culture of entertainment and thoughtful criticism that regards this as more important than the reality which manifests the TV unit.
By the measure of TV, the Turing Test was passed by world-wide consensus the 1960s.
What's funny (strange) about TV's grip on our minds is that you'll rarely, if ever, meet anyone who if you ask about how those people live inside the TV will take the question seriously-- they'll just listen with perplexed expression-- but you can change the subject immediately to a show and they will regard mere hearsay about it as a matter of worldly reality, without question, and if they personally have seen the show, they will regard its characters and situations as social fact with all seriousness, no matter how contrived or absurd, and without concern about reality.
Pet theory: The root issue is that we have a extremely strong instinct to explain/model the world with stories. We can't help it, even if you know a coin flip is 50/50, you'll start thinking "with this many Heads in a row, I'm either on a hot streak or overdue for Tails now", because you're trying to make a story.
With respect to television, I don't think the "stories are kinda real" aspect is new, compared to books or oral tradition. The new part is the communication system which brings together a much larger group as audience.