Physicists To Test If Universe Is A Computer Simulation

In a galaxy far, far away.

My guess is that there are other civilizations out there, but they're suffering from the exact same problems as us - long distances, huge energy requirements, lots of time. If we can't get out to the stars, I can see why plenty of civilizations would be having trouble.

> As opposed to us simply being some other civilization on one of the other billions of habitable planets in that same "first" universe?

Yes, but if we are in a simulation we can almost answer the Fine-tuned Universe Paradox too, two birds with one stone. That is nice for Occam's rasor reasons.

I have often thought that if 20th century science tried to ram home the logical necessity of atheism, 21st century science rams home the logical necessity of agnosticism being the ground level, so to speak. If we, tiny as we still are, can even conceive of a practical way to simulate a universe (and what is truly the difference between "simulate" and "create" in the end?), how can we in good conscience fully rule out the idea that we are in fact in a simulation, and that whoever it is that is simulating us is in every reasonable sense a lower-case-d deity? They may be leaving us alone, ignorant of our existence (perhaps they only care about the large-scale results and we are but a blip), etc etc the entire well explored set of possible philosophical deities, but how can we confidently proclaim that none of them exist?

In the 20th century, one could be ignorant and scoff at the idea that Mankind might ever create a universe, and therefore scoff by extension at the idea that anyone or anything else could either... but now we know better. We've got universe prototypes already in production as ongoing commercial concerns (far more than mere theory!), at various stages of incredible primitiveness, but prototypes nonetheless. Rather than a massive leap, it is now merely logical progression that something, somewhere in some reality may actually have the knowledge and the resources to have "created" our universe, for some value of the term "created".

(I speak here of science in the vague philosophical movement sense. As much as it would like to claim total philosophical neutrality, there are certain Opinions that are Had.)

Well the most interesting part of the Matrix trilogy was when Neo used his powers in the 'real' world; specifically stopping the drones and being able to see despite losing his eyesight.

Where are they? They aren't 'there.'

The obvious point is, we may very well be the first, or 10th. And that's precisely why 'they' aren't anywhere.

And it's plausible that we're vastly underestimating how difficult it actually is to spread machines throughout the galaxy.

I don't happen to agree with the notion that we'd have to see evidence by now if there has been other life.

It's entirely plausible that a hundred other unique humanoids have existed on this planet, a billion or two years before we did, and that they all failed with minimum trace. We know for a fact that several variations have failed, so why not another 100? And if it's so difficult, then why not apply those odds to other planets?

In five billion years our planet, which is very hospitable to life, has managed to produce one currently existing 'intelligent' life form (that can barely fly to the moon). That means it's extraordinarily rare even on our planet. By most measures, humans barely managed to survive, and we got lucky to so far avoid a wipeout event.

The odds of life being generated in any given billion year time frame, on a planet that can possibly support it, and assuming the right conditions for intelligent life (eg that the planet doesn't get destroyed or altered by an asteroid etc), and on the reduction goes.

I think spacefaring life is exceptionally rare, and it only gets X amount of time to potentially exist before the solar system or galaxy or universe crushes it.

In short, I don't think there's enough time for intelligent life to span even a galaxy before being wiped out by nature. And why don't we see probes floating around? For the same reason Voyager will eventually be obliterated by rocks in space or gravity (and in the time scale of the milky way, it won't be a very long before that happens).