letting them interact with the world, and not lying to them
The same way you can simulate characters that are not physical people on this world, and simulate their emotions without experienceing them yourself, you can simulate a world where they live. The fact that you are simulating them doesn’t affect the facts of what’s happening in that world.
For example, lying to make them believe that they actually are in a fictional world, that they are X years old, that they have Y job, etc.
Platonically, there are self-aware people in their own world. Saying that the world is fictional, or that they are characters, or that they are not X years old, that they don’t have Y job, would be misleading. Also, you can’t say it to them in their world, since you are not in their world. You can only say it to them in your world, which requires instantiating them in your world, away from all they know.
Then there are mental models of those people, who are characters from a fictional world, not X years old, don’t have Y job, live in your head. These mental models have the distinction of usually not being self-aware. When you explain their situation to them, you are making them self-aware.
The same way you can simulate characters that are not physical people on this world, and simulate their emotions without experienceing them yourself, you can simulate a world where they live. The fact that you are simulating them doesn’t affect the facts of what’s happening in that world.
Platonically, there are self-aware people in their own world. Saying that the world is fictional, or that they are characters, or that they are not X years old, that they don’t have Y job, would be misleading. Also, you can’t say it to them in their world, since you are not in their world. You can only say it to them in your world, which requires instantiating them in your world, away from all they know.
Then there are mental models of those people, who are characters from a fictional world, not X years old, don’t have Y job, live in your head. These mental models have the distinction of usually not being self-aware. When you explain their situation to them, you are making them self-aware.