Recent information technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow the creation of simulated sensory worlds with which we can interact. Using programming language, digital details can be overlaid onto displays of our environment, confounding what is real and what has been artificially engineered. Natural language, particularly the use of direct verbal suggestion (DVS) in everyday and hypnotic contexts, can also manipulate the meaning and significance of objects and events in ourselves and others. In this review, we focus on how socially rewarding language can construct and influence reality. Language is symbolic, automatic and flexible and can be used to augment bodily sensations e.g. feelings of heaviness in a limb or suggest a colour that is not there. We introduce the term ‘suggested reality’ (SR) to refer to the important role that language, specifically DVS, plays in constructing, maintaining and manipulating our shared reality. We also propose the term edited reality to encompass the wider influence of information technology and linguistic techniques that results in altered subjective experience and review its use in clinical settings, while acknowledging its limitations. We develop a cognitive model indicating how the brain’s central executive structures use our personal and linguistic-based narrative in subjective awareness, arguing for a central role for language in DVS. A better understanding of the characteristics of VR, AR and SR and their applications in everyday life, research and clinical settings can help us to better understand our own reality and how it can be edited.

中文翻译：

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在大脑中编辑现实

最近的信息技术，如虚拟现实 (VR) 和增强现实 (AR) 允许创建我们可以与之交互的模拟感官世界。使用编程语言，数字细节可以叠加到我们环境的显示上，混淆真实的和人工设计的。自然语言，特别是在日常和催眠情境中使用直接口头暗示（DVS），也可以操纵我们自己和他人的物体和事件的意义和意义。在这篇评论中，我们关注社会奖励语言如何构建和影响现实。语言是象征性的、自动的和灵活的，可用于增强身体感觉，例如肢体沉重的感觉或暗示不存在的颜色。我们引入术语“暗示现实”（SR）来指代语言，特别是 DVS，在构建、维护和操纵我们共享的现实中所起的重要作用。我们还提出了“编辑现实”一词，以涵盖信息技术和语言技术的更广泛影响，这些影响会导致主观体验的改变，并审查其在临床环境中的使用，同时承认其局限性。我们开发了一个认知模型，表明大脑的中央执行结构如何在主观意识中使用我们的个人和基于语言的叙述，主张语言在 DVS 中的核心作用。更好地了解 VR、AR 和 SR 的特征及其在日常生活、研究和临床环境中的应用，可以帮助我们更好地了解我们自己的现实以及如何对其进行编辑。