Sean Illing
Vox
・
10 Apr 2019
Are we living in a computer simulation?
Nick Bostrom showed that at least one of three possibilities is true: 1) All human-like civilizations in the universe go extinct before they develop the technological capacity to create simulated realities
- If any civilizations do reach this phase of technological maturity, none of them will bother to run simulations
- Or, advanced civilizations would have the ability to create many, many simulations, and that means there are far more simulated worlds than non-simulated ones
Isn’t the hypothesis that we’re living in a flesh-and-blood physical world the simpler explanation?
John Wheeler: Everything we see as physical is really the result of bits of information
- Computers do follow rules, but the fact that the rules always apply doesn’t rule in or rule out that we could be part of a computer simulation
- If we are conscious beings, we are more likely to be a simulated being than a biological one because it’s so quick and easy to create them
Are we NPCs or PCs in a simulation?
If we are PCs, then that means we are just playing a character inside the video game of life
- What is the purpose of the simulation and what is the goal of the character
- We are close to the simulation point
- Stage five is around virtual reality and augmented reality, and stage six is about learning to render these things without us having to put on glasses
What is the simulation hypothesis?
The simulation hypothesis is the modern equivalent of the idea that the physical world that we live in, including the Earth and the rest of the physical universe, is actually part of a computer simulation
- Think of it like a high resolution or high-fidelity video game in which we are all characters
- Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix
Are we living in a simulated universe right now?
There are lots of mysteries in physics that are better explained by the simulation hypothesis than by what would be a material hypothesis.
- Much we simply don’t understand about our reality, and it’s more likely than not that we are living in some kind of simulated universe.
- The cardinal rule of physics is that the universe renders only that which needs to be observed.
