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Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

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Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#101

Post by planetjones »

moxious wrote: post #28
planetjones wrote: post #24

But couldn't our universe be being simulated by a species far more advanced and discrete to anything the human race has ever encountered? How do we know that another form of life doesn't find everything that we find super complex extremely trivial ?

It could be the case that we are being simulated by a far superior alien species. It could also be that invisible pink unicorns in the 15th dimension control all of our thoughts and only want us to believe this. Without being tongue in cheek, I'll observe that the empirical evidence for both of these ideas is equal in quantity. We don't know for sure that these things aren't true. But to ask that question is to inapp…

I respectfully disagree. Humans have imagination and some imagine we are part of a simulation. Yes it can't be proven but those who think of what the possibilities may be shouldn't 'get out'.

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#102

Post by lordfoom »

coldtea wrote: post #99
leni536 wrote: post #26

The statement "we live in a simulation" is not falsifiable. For me this question is simply not interesting.

Popper's concept of "falsifiable" claims as the only means to science has been debunked time and again. It's not how real science works most of the time.

Really? I'm interested in reading more about this?

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#104

Post by vacri »

planetjones wrote: post #101
moxious wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be the case that we are being simulated by a far superior alien species. It could also be that invisible pink unicorns in the 15th dimension control all of our thoughts and only want us to believe this. Without being tongue in cheek, I'll observe that the empirical evidence for both of these ideas is equal in quantity. We don't know for sure that these things aren't true. But to ask that question is to inapp…

I respectfully disagree. Humans have imagination and some imagine we are part of a simulation. Yes it can't be proven but those who think of what the possibilities may be shouldn't 'get out'.

Imagining a 'what if' about living in a simulation is not the same as claiming we live in a simulation.

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#106

Post by sillysaurus3 »

julianpye wrote: post #105

Regarding AI and God and religion - here is a blog post that I wrote that suggests that being in a simulation actually increases our chances for a religious afterlife. https://medium.com/@photodiary/implementing-religion-in-ai-l...

This runs into the question of whether you're a single person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQHBAdShgYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjfaoe847qQ

If you transplant half your brain into another body, and both of you wake up, which one is you? If you start swapping your atoms one by one with someone else, and neither of you die, at what point do you become the other person?

Unfortunately questions like that are necessary in order to address the idea of a simulation afterlife. If our bodies are literally who we are, and our bodies disperse, it may not make sense to say that we can still be simulated after our bodies disappear.

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#107

Post by GuiA »

TelmoMenezes wrote: post #89

Something that most people never consider in these discussions: If you accept the hypothesis that mind is generated by a computation, and that this computation is finite, then the same computation that produces "you" can be performed in different places and at different times. The same computation can be performed inside a simulation, inside a simulation inside a simulation and so on. Whatever environment around you…

Except that your mind is not an isolatable computation - it is influenced by your body, which is in turn influenced by its immediate environment, in turn influenced by the rest of the universe in an ever expanding nested fashion.

So if you want to simulate yourself, you have to simulate the universe.

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#108

Post by pluma »

leni536 wrote: post #26

The statement "we live in a simulation" is not falsifiable. For me this question is simply not interesting.

Not only is it not falsifiable it provides nothing actionable whatsoever. Accepting the statement as fact changes nothing practical unless you're the nihilistic type and look for an excuse to go on a spree killing or to off yourself -- or you're bogged down by anxiety and the revelation that nothing matters frees you to live without care, which I find unlikely.

It's basically a philosophical game of navel gazing. I get why some might find that enjoyable but to imply it has any practical application seems nonsensical. It's like debating how long God's beard is or what material a unicorn's horn is made of.

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#109

Post by moxious »

planetjones wrote: post #101
moxious wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be the case that we are being simulated by a far superior alien species. It could also be that invisible pink unicorns in the 15th dimension control all of our thoughts and only want us to believe this. Without being tongue in cheek, I'll observe that the empirical evidence for both of these ideas is equal in quantity. We don't know for sure that these things aren't true. But to ask that question is to inapp…

I respectfully disagree. Humans have imagination and some imagine we are part of a simulation. Yes it can't be proven but those who think of what the possibilities may be shouldn't 'get out'.

I have no problem with speculation and wondering, just as long as it's identified as this...it's just that this is a really different activity than making statements about reality. When those activities get confused the audience gets confused, and soon after come proposals about what real people should do in the real world based on that speculation and then we're off the rails

Re: Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation

#110

Post by jonathanstrange »

julianpye wrote: post #105

Regarding AI and God and religion - here is a blog post that I wrote that suggests that being in a simulation actually increases our chances for a religious afterlife. https://medium.com/@photodiary/implementing-religion-in-ai-l...

That's a non-sequitur you have there, because you do not even attempt to explain why there should be a case distinction. To be fair, even Nick Bostrom's original simulation argument is also based on several fairly unfounded and not very plausible assumptions (e.g. what extremely advanced societies would do). Much of the debate seems to be based on speculation.
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