Arguments for and against reality (as we know it) being a computer simulation

[Al Doggity]

This is one of those philosophical/internet questions that has been kicking around for a while. The below video with Elon Musk is posted as reference, I don't necessarily agree with his reasoning ( I also don't completely understand it  )

I have believed for a while that our perception of time only moving in one direction suggests we're in a computer simulation. I also think the concept of emotions- specifically love- seems like something a programmer might come up with.

[loco]

Yes, God is the creator (Software developer), and we are the computer programs.  Reject His Son, Jesus Christ, and you shall be retired and deleted for ever.

[240 is Back]

{
public static void getBig (String[] args) {
     System.out.println("Great thread");
  }

}

[_aj_]

{
public static void getBig (String[] args) {
     System.out.println("Great thread");
  }

}

Java 

[Army of One]

This is one of those philosophical/internet questions that has been kicking around for a while. The below video with Elon Musk is posted as reference, I don't necessarily agree with his reasoning ( I also don't completely understand it  )

I have believed for a while that our perception of time only moving in one direction suggests we're in a computer simulation. I also think the concept of emotions- specifically love- seems like something a programmer might come up with.

Basically unless we are the base civ, then we have to be a simulation, so there can only be 1 real civ and then the billions of sims that civ creates.

[Al Doggity]

Yes, God is the creator (Software developer), and we are the computer programs.  Reject His Son, Jesus Christ, and you shall be retired and deleted for ever.

Have you ever thought that it seems really strange that god (the western, christian god) experiences emotions in largely the same way humans do? From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that humans have emotions in the way we do. It's not just humans, either, pretty much every complex organism experiences the same emotions informed by thought/brain complexity. Those emotions essentially drive the survival and development of their species. A computer programmer could program emotional responses with a few if statements. But why does god have those same basic emotions? (and the bible repeatedly tells us that he does.) It really doesn't make sense for an omnipotent,omnipresent creator to feel love or anger.


But this thread isn't really about religion. It's whether or not we live in a computer simulation.

[Al Doggity]

{
public static void getBig (String[] args) {
     System.out.println("Great thread");
  }

}

void newResponse() {
    if (serious) {
        sunglassesEmoji++;
    } else {
        System.out.println("Go Fuck Yourself!");
    }
}

[Al Doggity]

Basically unless we are the base civ, then we have to be a simulation, so there can only be 1 real civ and then the billions of sims that civ creates.

No, I mean I understand the basics of what he's saying, I just don't entirely get how he came to that conclusion. This isn't a great analogy, but it's almost like saying that if there are millions of copies of mario bros sold, then there must be  a real mario mario somewhere.  I basically included the vid as an example that this is a question that serious people discuss (for people who've never considered it), but I have some reservations about his reasoning.(I'm sure Elon Musk will not be able to sleep tonight after hearing that Al Doggity disagreed with him  )

[loco]

Have you ever thought that it seems really strange that god (the western, christian god) experiences emotions in largely the same way humans do? From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that humans have emotions in the way we do. It's not just humans, either, pretty much every complex organism experiences the same emotions informed by thought/brain complexity. Those emotions essentially drive the survival and development of their species. A computer programmer could program emotional responses with a few if statements. But why does god have those same basic emotions? (and the bible repeatedly tells us that he does.) It really doesn't make sense for an omnipotent,omnipresent creator to feel love or anger.


But this thread isn't really about religion. It's whether or not we live in a computer simulation.

Yes, and He programmed his own emotions into His creation.

Genesis 1:27
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him"

[FREAKgeek]

This is one of those philosophical/internet questions that has been kicking around for a while. The below video with Elon Musk is posted as reference, I don't necessarily agree with his reasoning ( I also don't completely understand it   )

I have believed for a while that our perception of time only moving in one direction suggests we're in a computer simulation. I also think the concept of emotions- specifically love- seems like something a programmer might come up with.

Is he saying that, we are all playing a game and player 1 starts at conception and ends at death? that's pretty deep, but I don't think anyone super advanced would find it a worthwhile, pleasant experience, unless they are being forced to, which is also deep.

[loco]

[Kahn.N.Singh]

Yeah, the theory isn't Musk's and has been around, in several different iterations, for years:

For philosophers: http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf

For physicists: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.1847v2.pdf

Enjoy.

[el numero uno]

What if we are really part of a simulation, but the advanced civilization that developed us is also a simulation from another, more advanced civilization?

[el numero uno]

From another forum, about the same video OP posted.

His justification was that only 40 years ago, we had pong - a game that has a dot and a line, and today we have highly photo-realistic 3d games, and are quickly moving into augmented reality.

I think that's a lousy argument. He assumes a constantly accelerating growth in tech, though the truth is likely along the lines of the law of diminishing returns - that tech advancement will slow down as we move towards a 'singularity', as they say.

He assumes a technological singularity can even exist, or is highly likely, such that reality can be absolutely simulated using a computer. I think that's a false assumption.

And non-falsifiable claims shouldn't be taken seriously, anyway.

P.S. big fan of Elon Musk, here. I just don't think everything that drops from his mouth is rainbow coloured.

[FitnessFrenzy]

Goodrum is proof that we are not a simulation made by an intelligent creator

[Kahn.N.Singh]

From another forum, about the same video OP posted.

Quite right. As far as "argument," or "strongest argument," Musk's response was an embarassment (though, in his defense, the forum wasn't a conference of experts). 

[240 is Back]

Java 

In 2016, what language would you recommend a person learn to be most marketable in the next few years?

[240 is Back]

Sims get more ass than us married people.

[El Diablo Blanco]

In 2016, what language would you recommend a person learn to be most marketable in the next few years?

Spark

Thank me later.

[El Diablo Blanco]

If we're a simulation then why can't things be deleted? You can kill someone but they still exist and need to be buried. 

[Wiggs]

Yes, God is the creator (Software developer), and we are the computer programs.  Reject His Son, Jesus Christ, and you shall be retired and deleted for ever.

FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Explorerspl]

If we're a simulation then why can't things be deleted? You can kill someone but they still exist and need to be buried. 

People disappearing by being abducted, our creator manifest s as an alien.

[Al Doggity]

If we're a simulation then why can't things be deleted? You can kill someone but they still exist and need to be buried. 

Science doesn't even have a working definition for "life" . Most branches use a set of characteristics that can distinguish between living or not living, but there isn't a universally accepted scientific definition of life. From a programming/resource standpoint, there would be no difference between a living entitity and a dead one. There is the same amount of energy in the system either way. The question itself comes from a somewhat solipsistic perspective. If we are living in a simulation, the simulation's purpose does not necessarily revolve around accommodating human life. It also doesn't have to operate in a manner that replicates Windows Vista.

[Al Doggity]

From another forum, about the same video OP posted.

Like I said in the opening post and in another post after that, I don't really agree with Musk's take on this. I only posted the vid to show that this is a topic that people known as smart and serious do discuss.

As for why the poster you quoted thinks Musk is wrong, I actually have some issues with that, too. If we are living in a simulation, the simulation doesn't really have to replicate reality, so whether or not technology gets to a point where it can replicate base reality is not really relevant. From what I understood Musk to be saying, his argument isn't really dependent on the existence of a technological singularity, just the idea that the possibility of one suggests that one version of reality supersedes all others and that means it's likely we are living in one of the simulations.

[mr.turbo]

things that make you go hmmmmm