Do we live in a computer simulation
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
I read all the foundational literature on that one. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it, and rereading stuff, and forming ideas for adopting the point of view that we do live in a simulation. That fat question gets in the way of much more enlightening and constructive and very interesting thought experiments. I have a constant input into my thoughts on what is this all, and it allows a very patterned view of our experiences, making tweaking that into alternate experiences of reality.
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
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That is just regurgitation of a common and old philosophical view. And result is that it just doesn't matter if it is or isn't. Because we can't prove it one way or the other. So we might as well just assume (believe) it to be false.
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
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That is just regurgitation of a common and old philosophical view. And result is that it just doesn't matter if it is or isn't. Because we can't prove it one way or the other. So we might as well just assume (believe) it to be false.
Ian M Banks novel Algebraist has a religion called "The Truth" which says that the universe might or might not be a simulation but it we don't know so you have to treat reality as real and get on with it.
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Nature doesn't have pop-up ads every time you view a natural wonder. That is how we know we aren't in a computer simulation.
Ok, I admit it, it's been a while since I've been on the lounge. How do I give this 5?
Er, I can't think of a funny signature right now. How about a good fart to break the silence?
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Ian M Banks novel Algebraist has a religion called "The Truth" which says that the universe might or might not be a simulation but it we don't know so you have to treat reality as real and get on with it.
In one of his Culture books called 'Matter' a character argues that we are not in a simulation because any entity advanced enough to able to host such a convincing simulation is likely to have an advanced moral ethic and could not be so immoral as to engineer so much suffering.
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In one of his Culture books called 'Matter' a character argues that we are not in a simulation because any entity advanced enough to able to host such a convincing simulation is likely to have an advanced moral ethic and could not be so immoral as to engineer so much suffering.
Every society has to have at least one sadist...
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
Hmm... We may have to reformat and reinstall this simulation. The simulated people have started to realize that they're simulations. Strange. They do so many stupid things and yet they're still able to figure out it's not real.
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That is just regurgitation of a common and old philosophical view. And result is that it just doesn't matter if it is or isn't. Because we can't prove it one way or the other. So we might as well just assume (believe) it to be false.
jschell wrote:
So we might as well just assume (believe) it to be false
Or assume it is true and call the One or ones who run it, a deity. And religion is born.
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
There's some circumstantial evidence we do live in a simulation: The universe behaves differently when we observe it, than when we don't. For example, when shooting a single subatomic particle at two slits, it appears to go through BOTH of them simultaneously. (The evidence is that the "single" particles form an interference pattern that you'd expect from two particles or waves.) But when you place sensors nearby to observe this curious phenomenon, the interference pattern STOPS, as if our simulation is providing more detail because we're looking at it. The analogy is to computer graphics/virtual reality, where objects that are currently in the distance aren't rendered in as much detail as objects we're observing nearby. Objects not in the viewport aren't even rendered, for efficiency.
"Microsoft -- Adding unnecessary complexity to your work since 1987!"
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
So, basically, if you assume we live in a computer simulation, and you assume it uses the same techniques to simulate the universe as we use today, then you can prove we're living in a simulation by observing the known quantitization artifacts of that simulation technique. There's one basic flaw in that line of reasoning.. the assumption that we've invented the end-all way to simulate the universe. Take that away, and assume a different, as-yet-uninvented way to model the universe is being used, then there's no known quantitization effects to be observed. Given scientific history to date, where we've used different ways to model the universe as we've gained deeper understanding, then there's a very high probability (I'd call it a flat out certainty) that some as-yet-uninvented modeling technique would be used. I'll even go so far to say that if a different modeling technique was being used, and the quantitization effects mentioned in the article can be observed, then that's really, really close to proof that we're not living in a simulation.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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That is just regurgitation of a common and old philosophical view. And result is that it just doesn't matter if it is or isn't. Because we can't prove it one way or the other. So we might as well just assume (believe) it to be false.
The answer is out there, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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It made me laugh;
He also held that "the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation."
That's a spaghetti-monster :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] They hate us for our freedom![^]
Sounds like a spaghetti monster, but that sentence is phrased kind of backward. The idea is that IF we are likely to become posthuman, and run simulations of ourselves, then the humans in those simulations are likely to do the same, and so on, until there is a large number of simulations. In that case, the probability of us being the very first simulators is very small, so we are almost certainly living in one of the simulations. So I think the point of the above statement is that you can't believe we are likely to become posthumans capable of simulating ourselves, unless you also believe we are almost certainly in a simulation. Not saying there is any evidence either way, but neither is the quoted statement. It's not really a speghetti monster, more of a statement of the constraints of belief in such a speghetti monster.
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Sounds like a spaghetti monster, but that sentence is phrased kind of backward. The idea is that IF we are likely to become posthuman, and run simulations of ourselves, then the humans in those simulations are likely to do the same, and so on, until there is a large number of simulations. In that case, the probability of us being the very first simulators is very small, so we are almost certainly living in one of the simulations. So I think the point of the above statement is that you can't believe we are likely to become posthumans capable of simulating ourselves, unless you also believe we are almost certainly in a simulation. Not saying there is any evidence either way, but neither is the quoted statement. It's not really a speghetti monster, more of a statement of the constraints of belief in such a speghetti monster.
Like the Spaghetti-monster, it requires one to take an assumption as a starting-point. It's built on "what ifs". What if these supposed "posthumans" are apes? Like the movie "Planet of.."? They'd eventually be able to run simulations, wouldn't they? What about the first bacteria? First one-celled life was immortal. Wouldn't it be more simple to deduce that they're the ones running simulations? Where does the idea of "symmetry" in the simulations come from, if not the human psyche and it's arrogance? It reminds me of a compile-error in code; the classes are built on a circular reference.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] They hate us for our freedom![^]
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This made my head hurt... Do we live in a computer simulation[^]
Unfortunately if we really live in a simulation, we won't be able to prove it, no matter how much math and physics you throw at the problem, the fundamental problem is that we only have our simulated universe as a reference point, so any calculation or physic law we have discovered is tied to the particular paramaters of this simulation.
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...