No, You Are Not Living in a Computer Simulation

david927

An argument that tries to refute a fairly dumb argument in favor of an idea does not, in fact, negate the idea.

unsupp0rted

> It is possible for technology to simulate consciousness and human civilization at scale We know it is possible because consciousness, if whatever we call "consciousness" is actually a thing, is currently being generated/run "organically" in the world we occupy. There's no reason to believe it can happen in this universe but not inside a computer in this universe.

metalman

funny, I have this persistant kind of feeling that our computers are somehow not working acording to logic and reason just arbitrary functions designedby clowns, and fantisise about what computers would work like in the real world

sdwr

I think it's a lot more interesting to look for practical markers of simulation than do a teleological thought experiment. How would a simulated universe differ from a "real" one? How would the simulation cut corners to save resources? Maybe the laws of physics are designed not just to produce interesting results, but also to be efficient to run. Karl Friston and Steven Wolfram are sniffing around here, with cellular automata and free energy describing ways of partitioning space so it's cheaper to update

echoangle

Isn’t assumption 1 (“It is possible for technology to simulate consciousness and human civilization at scale”) covered by outcome 1 (“Civilizations end before they can start simulations”)? With the tiny implicit assumption that civilizations aren’t eternal.

fallingfrog

The real question to ask is: what is the difference between a simulated universe and a real one? Heres a hint: If the simulation substrate is unconscious or naturally occurring, is it still a "simulation"? Or just a real universe with extra steps? I think that most people would agree that a universe only counts as "simulated" if it was created by conscious beings intentionally. In other words, proponents of simulation theories have basically reinvented god. But they've done something even more mind bogglingly self important: by posing God as a sysadmin of a celestial server farm, they have essentially written themselves into the role. From a certain point of view, this kind of behavior from self proclaimed rationalists is pretty hilarious. It's also deeply human. But ultimately it's also very silly. In ancient Greece the gods were fickle, horny warlords; in medieval times God was seen as an absolute monarch. And now, he is being posed as an overworked it professional. And that is absolutely fascinating for what it says about our culture and psychology. But it says nothing useful or testable about the universe.