Do you want to talk about the simulation argument? 'Cause I kind of want to.
The simulation argument is kind of insane. Here's how it goes: At least once in a universe, something is going to become very smart - smart enough that they'll be able to simulate people like you in me in a computer. Actually, they should be able to simulate lots and lots of people like you and me. More people could be run in simulation than had ever existed in the lifetime of the universe. And the sims would never be any the wiser.
Given that, assuming that at least one such super-intelligent tinkerer evolved in the real universe, and assuming that it has some interest in modeling its ancestors on a massive scale - we're probably simulations.
There are a few ways to imagine us not being simulations - maybe no race ever gets to the point where they're using that much computational power. Maybe they do get that much power, but they don't do any massive human-esque simulations. Maybe we're one of the few "natural" intelligences. Or maybe (and this is where the materialist in me goes "harumph") human experience can't be replicated in a computer simulation.
But, if taken seriously (and a lot of people do), the simulation argument has some really weird results. For example, you might be the only "fully simulated" consciousness, with everyone else being run as a shell or "partially simulated".
The basic idea behind the argument is an old one, going back to Plato's cave. The difference is that the simulation argument suggests that a "false reality" is not only possible, but probable.
Anyway. It's been on my mind for a few hours, so I wanted to write a little about it and get it out of my system. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Now I can go back to writing code.
The canonical "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?" essay
Lots of Simulation Argument links
How to Live in a Simulation - Practical advice if you decide that you're probably simulated :-)
Given that, assuming that at least one such super-intelligent tinkerer evolved in the real universe, and assuming that it has some interest in modeling its ancestors on a massive scale - we're probably simulations.
There are a few ways to imagine us not being simulations - maybe no race ever gets to the point where they're using that much computational power. Maybe they do get that much power, but they don't do any massive human-esque simulations. Maybe we're one of the few "natural" intelligences. Or maybe (and this is where the materialist in me goes "harumph") human experience can't be replicated in a computer simulation.
But, if taken seriously (and a lot of people do), the simulation argument has some really weird results. For example, you might be the only "fully simulated" consciousness, with everyone else being run as a shell or "partially simulated".
The basic idea behind the argument is an old one, going back to Plato's cave. The difference is that the simulation argument suggests that a "false reality" is not only possible, but probable.
Anyway. It's been on my mind for a few hours, so I wanted to write a little about it and get it out of my system. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Now I can go back to writing code.
The canonical "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?" essay
Lots of Simulation Argument links
How to Live in a Simulation - Practical advice if you decide that you're probably simulated :-)