Questions tagged [simulated-universe]
It was Nick Bostrom who coined the "simulation hypothesis" but the concept of a simulated universe touches upon many related ideas: from Descartes' "evil genius" to Edgar Allan Poe's "Dream within a dream". Use this tag when manifest reality is contingent on the machination of a more "real" domain.
52
questions
2
votes
4
answers
76
views
Does the simulation hypothesis bring back certain ideas long rejected by skeptics and typically associated with religious believes?
The following ideas have long been rejected by the scientific skeptical community as superstitious and incompatible with reason:
That the universe has been designed by intelligent being(s) - the so-...
- 993
1
vote
4
answers
118
views
What is the likelihood that human civilization is just a petri dish to an alien race? [closed]
Not to confuse with simulation theory, but how possible is it that we (humans) were placed/created on Earth by aliens to create an observable simulation of civilization?
- 43
1
vote
2
answers
83
views
How Do We Understand our Existence? [closed]
I apologize if I tag this post incorrectly as this is my very first post. I’m rather new to philosophical topics and I find myself constrained in a state of disassociation. How do I know I’m here?
I ...
- 21
1
vote
3
answers
115
views
Is it possible to simulate a reality like ours using other logic than classical logic?
Are there alternative logical systems that could serve as a foundation for simulating a reality similar to ours, given that non-classical logics such as paraconsistent logic, while applicable in ...
- 3,787
1
vote
5
answers
303
views
The supposed "knockdown argument" for Simulation Theory -- what did I miss? (IF we can create simulations indistinguishable from reality...)
I have never read any extensive formulation of the argument; I've only listened to people (like Elon) lay it out in Youtube videos; so I don't know what it's called or how to lay it out with rigour; ...
- 21
0
votes
3
answers
115
views
How to distinguish the species of „real“ persons from the species of simulated persons?
Today I learned from an academic talk given by Prof. Gilles Brassard (Montreal): In the context of artificial intelligence one discusses not only civilizations (level 1) which are simulated by ...
- 24k
3
votes
2
answers
203
views
What is the most probable AI?
then I have a difficult question to ask.
Let's imagine that in the distant future of our universe, through the arrangement of atoms that move in empty space, various objects are formed, any object can ...
- 89
0
votes
3
answers
1k
views
A terrifying variant of Boltzmann's brain
I am new to this forum even though I have read a lot on the subject of boltzmann's brains and have come to a terrifying conclusion, the classic argument which for example Sean Carroll used, "The ...
- 89
2
votes
2
answers
183
views
Which branch combines solipsism and monism?
Which branch of philosophy whole-heartedly accepts (and builds upon) that only self exists (solipsism) and the universe is the part/creation of self (monism) by eliminating the possibility of ...
- 285
-1
votes
3
answers
229
views
On the quantum mechanical nature of time flow
I am going to write below some ideas that I have been playing with lately. I am writing this question to ask for (1) your opinions and insights, specially comments on where my logic/intuition may be ...
- 107
3
votes
3
answers
451
views
Logical/mathematical (non-physical) arguments against simulation hypothesis?
So the Simulation Hypothesis, from what I've heard, is not scientifically testable because it is not falsifiable, which makes perfect sense to me and is the viewpoint I have always adopted.
Yet ...
- 51
4
votes
1
answer
198
views
Where is it that I go when I dream?
This is a question that I had posed regarding the nature of mental images described by patients who suffer from Charles Bonnet Syndrome here:
What is the nature of the mental images that are perceived ...
- 97
2
votes
1
answer
174
views
Intuitive reasoning on the nature of time
I claim that the measurement of time is the measurement of change if the following holds:
Our universe is (or can be represented as) a simulation, namely a set of data operated on by an algorithm. ...
- 33
3
votes
1
answer
320
views
Simulation Hypothesis - trivial objection - what is the response?
There's a very simple objection to the simulation hypothesis that I came up with, and I've read others come up with this same idea. So I assume it's something philosophers should already be aware of.
...
- 2,961
0
votes
2
answers
159
views
Is this argument for simulated reality really valid?
I was skimming through the wikipedia article on the simulation hypothesis and saw the following argument by Elon Musk:
If you assume any rate of improvement at all, games will eventually be
...
- 552
-1
votes
1
answer
179
views
What is the best way to model reality if it is a simulation?
Erwin Schrödinger proposed the quantum mechanical model of the atom, which treats electrons as matter waves.
So...
Quantum mechanics is a model, but it was not created on the assumption that the ...
- 441
1
vote
3
answers
716
views
Simulation hypothesis and solipsism
Is Nick Bostrom's simulation hypothesis a solipsistic idea? This hypothesis says that only I have consciousness, and all other people are unconscious philosophical zombies? Which version of the ...
- 19
5
votes
1
answer
209
views
Simulation argument and compressibility
Short version:
Has anyone tried arguing against Bostrom's argument's final postulate from the compressibility viewpoint?
Long version:
As per Nick Bostrom's simulation argument if people can make ...
- 199
0
votes
2
answers
305
views
Can the simulation theory be a scientifically-sound proof that God exists?
The way I understand it, it says that the probability of God not existing is like 1 / infinity.
I wonder if there are any flaws in the logic below that I don't see.
A possible interpretation can go ...
- 119
2
votes
5
answers
351
views
What actually is a simulation philosophically?
Everyone has heard of the idea that the universe might be a simulation - which we understand to mean that there is some computer in the "base" universe, which is running a program that is ...
- 11.1k
1
vote
3
answers
380
views
What does it mean for the universe to be a simulation?
Amongst philosophers in general... what exactly is meant by the universe or reality itself being a simulation?
Simulation is fairly clear to me, when works "within" the assumptions of the ...
- 2,961
0
votes
4
answers
262
views
How touch occurs in a simulation hypothesis or in a brain hypothesis in a vat?
The point is that it doesn't matter whether these hypothesis are correct or not. The only thing that worries me is how the touch happens if in the real world it is the interaction of atoms (in ...
- 11
0
votes
3
answers
217
views
A concept which "shows" why are we limited by speed of light?
These are my thoughts about the above:
So, lets say at a given time t, I am in a room, and it has a state, which describes all the info about that state. Assume for simplicity that the room and its ...
- 101
1
vote
1
answer
118
views
What is the current state of the Philosophy of Video Games?
Since there is philosophy of literature and philosophy of film I was wondering if someone could describe the current state of the philosophy of video games since there doesn't seem to be any articles ...
- 552
1
vote
3
answers
154
views
How is a computed existence different from a non-computed existence?
How is a computed existence different from a non-computed existence? Because some theorize our world is a simulation, it implies the existence of computed existences and non-computed existence. Did ...
- 3,787
1
vote
0
answers
545
views
Assuming we live in a simulation, does quantum mechanics exist so that freewill can be computed?
There is a chance that we live in a simulation. If we do, that might explain some of quantum mechanics.
Everything is made up of 1 of 2 states. For example, you will, or will not, go to the movies ...
- 111
1
vote
4
answers
278
views
Is there a popular philosophical argument that purports to show or corroborate the claim that the reality is a computer simulation?
Is there a popular philosophical argument that purports to show or corroborate the claim that the reality is a computer simulation? I am wondering if any philosopher tried to tackle this question with ...
- 3,787
1
vote
8
answers
1k
views
Consciousness in Simulation theory & AI, why do some believe that it is even possible?
There are many famous philosophers that assume that "consciousness can be create by calculations in a computer". For example: Nick Bostrom with the simulation theory [I greatly respect and ...
- 153
0
votes
0
answers
115
views
Can’t we assume that the Boltzmann Brain scenario can be cognitively stable?
In the Boltzmann Brain scenario, we are all brains produced by random fluctuations within a high entropy universe. The argument which I had accepted before was that our very reasoning can not be ...
- 101
-1
votes
1
answer
122
views
Is there a way to prove that I'm not in a simulation or a vr of some sorts in which everything I see, feel, etc aren't real? [duplicate]
My question is could all I think of as real in this world, the pain, the happiness, sadness all just be part of some futuristic vr of some sorts that is making me think i am thinking and doing all im ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
78
views
Why are we not trying to create an Experience Machine?
Is there any intrinsic difference between our world and a simulated one (i.e. The Experience Machine)? I cannot think of any, so why do we not all want that? Is it just the status quo bias, or is ...
- 111
0
votes
3
answers
398
views
Can the scientific method ever disprove Magic and Miracles (Simulated)?
I have seen the idea behind this question before but I don’t think it was well formulated. Here is my attempt to ponder on reality based on Plato's “Myth of the Cave” and show how valid it still is.
...
user22051
5
votes
5
answers
526
views
Is dying in a simulation ever sufficient for death, and if not does that make death inconceivable?
Is dying in a simulation -- any simulation at all -- ever physically sufficient to die at that instant outside it?
I mean a simulation like in the film the Matrix, or in a dream, one that kills your ...
user44289
-1
votes
2
answers
212
views
How do we know we could be brains in vats? [closed]
So-called skeptics usually claim that we don't know some normal facts because they know some abnormal fact about some possibility that undermines knowledge. How do these people know their modal claims ...
- 12.2k
-1
votes
3
answers
383
views
Simulation argument: is "leaf reality" is most probable? [closed]
Suppose the simulation hypothesis is correct, so that we are living in one node in a tree of simulated universes. At the root of the tree is base reality, then the child nodes of the root are ...
- 115
1
vote
2
answers
210
views
What is the procentual probability that we live in the objective reality independent of our consciousness rather than in some virtual reality?
I am aware than it is impossible to prove anything in real life. Therefore we can't prove that the picture of the reality we are percieving through our senses is a subjective picture of an objective ...
- 355
14
votes
8
answers
8k
views
If a person claims to know anything could it be disproven by saying 'prove that we are not in a simulation'?
Everyone starts out at 0 and if anyone wants to say that they know something they have to prove that claim. Is the counter to this person claiming that they know something logically correct?
Person 1:...
- 153
5
votes
6
answers
2k
views
How does the 'Brain in a Vat Argument' differ from the 'Simulation Argument'?
The brain in a bad vat argument states that we may be a brain plugged up to a supercomputer that simulates the external world by sending signals to the brain, just like the brain normally receives ...
- 171
2
votes
2
answers
392
views
Does Bostrom's simulation argument make sense?
Bostrom has famously argued that we live in a simulation. One of his key assumptions is that other civilizations exist that can simulate us. Why do we make this assumption?
Why assume that other ...
- 355
2
votes
1
answer
512
views
Occam's razor and the Multiverse Hypotesis
Occam's razor or the principle of ontological parsimony, tells us that,
placed before two hypotheses, we should always consider the simpler of the two to be correct. Obviously this is not a universal ...
- 534
0
votes
0
answers
82
views
Why does Elon Musk say we almost certainly live in a simulated reality?
When Morpheus from the Matrix tells us about why the machines use human body heat together with some sort of fusion in order to derive energy, why didn't the machines simply use nuclear, fusion, ...
2
votes
5
answers
531
views
Can we know anything about the "outside", if we are in a simulation?
Please note this question isn't about "simulation" as such. It is cast in this way to illustrate a particular sub-to-super ontology relationship:
Given that all we see or seem, are the product of ...
- 2,387
0
votes
2
answers
235
views
Does the Kalam cosmological argument prove that the prime Creator created this universe directly
I was reading about the Kalam cosmological argument
on wikipedia. The conclustion of which is:
An uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans the universe is beginningless, ...
user40173
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Did David Deutsch really disprove the Simulation Hypothesis?
In The Fabric of Reality (1997) by David Deutsch, he says:
Imagine a computer built to render every possible Virtual Reality.
Suppose all possible environments produced by this generator can be
...
- 2,387
5
votes
3
answers
483
views
Can it be shown that video games have in some way impacted philosophy or vice versa?
Video games are a quite recent invention and they became popular far after being invented, maybe by the 90s. However, I think video games somehow affected my worldview and produced some ideas. I will ...
- 2,576
2
votes
3
answers
530
views
Understanding the simulation argument
I came across Nick Bostrom's paper called Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?. The paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true:
The human species is likely to go extinct ...
- 121
27
votes
17
answers
17k
views
Are we living in a simulation? The evidence
I am not questioning whether the simulation topic is outside science. I am asking what evidence there is or could be to resolve whether we are or not.
Living in a simulation has been a topic for ...
- 20.5k
15
votes
6
answers
3k
views
If we live in a simulated world, doesn't there have to be a first world that's real?
There are people who believe we live in a world, simulated on a computer. That computer must have been built in either another computer-generated world or a real world (by which I mean a non-simulated ...
1
vote
4
answers
420
views
Can our universe be a simulation without simulator?
I have a deviating understanding of the simulation hypothesis. If I look at our universe as simulation, then it seems to me irrelevant whether this simulation is actually executed or not. In my ...
- 153
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Does the Simulation Argument differ in essence from the Evil Genius puzzle?
I recently read an article that suggested we might be able to determine if we are part of a computer simulation run by our descendants. The idea seemed far-fetched, but after looking around, I see ...
