Virtual Skin
2010
What test could a human perform today to prove they exist in a real world and not in a virtual world?
The human body inputs data from several senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) through several organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) which are converted to electrical signals and then sent to the brain via nerves for processing into information.
Assuming science progresses sufficiently in the future such that artificial signals could be generated and input directly into the brain to make it believe it was receiving genuine (sight, sound, small, taste and touch) signals, thereby creating a realistic virtual world for the human, who could be a terminally ill elderly person but believe they were a youthful happy healthy person under such virtual simulation.
Epistemologically, there is no test to determine whether or not it is a virtual world. However, Hillary Putnam has some interesting thought experiments about being a brain in a vat and experiencing a virtual reality here: http://www.uwichill.edu.bb/bnccde/ph29a/putnam.html . His thought is that if you really were a brain in a vat you wouldnt be having the thought that you were a brain in a vat. I think this can be applied to your question.
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