Still Waters Posted May 12, 2015 #1 Share Posted May 12, 2015 British philosopher Nick Bostrom says he believes that the reality we perceive around us may be the product of a highly-advanced computer program, much like the plot of the Matrix movies - and surprisingly NASA have said they agree with him. Dr Bostrom proposed in a paper he wrote that an evolved race of aliens have imprisoned the human-race in what he refers to as a "digital imprisonment". http://yournewswire....liens-say-nasa/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron_Lotus Posted May 12, 2015 #2 Share Posted May 12, 2015 so nasa is one guy now? and saying he may be onto something is agreeing with his theory? uh huhhhh.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoFish Posted May 12, 2015 #3 Share Posted May 12, 2015 What if we created this virtual reality to keep us from going insane. Perhaps we're traveling through the cosmos generation after generation. All is deep slumber. Awaiting for worlds to be ripe for colonization. Then when the time is right we "die" in this false world. Only to awaken into the true reality. Like a dream. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal_Etcetera Posted May 12, 2015 #4 Share Posted May 12, 2015 There are glitches, not very often, but there are glitches in what we call reality. Is that our minds skipping or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoFish Posted May 12, 2015 #5 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I've often wondered about these glitches. How sometimes you get the feeling of being watched or someone touches you. You hear someone talking and no one is there. Just random weirdness. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qxcontinuum Posted May 15, 2015 #6 Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) http://www.dailymail...s-universe.html geo 600 project http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/april-2014/searching-for-the-holographic-universe Edited May 15, 2015 by qxcontinuum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted May 15, 2015 #7 Share Posted May 15, 2015 So without any evidence a philosopher comes up with the matrix (which was entertaining, but fiction) as a unifying theory and we're just suppose to go 'Hmmm, okay'? It's an argument from ignorance. We haven't resolved quantum mechanics or dark matter but that's probably because that's the 'border' of the program we are in... really? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Merton Posted May 15, 2015 #8 Share Posted May 15, 2015 So without any evidence a philosopher comes up with the matrix (which was entertaining, but fiction) as a unifying theory and we're just suppose to go 'Hmmm, okay'? It's an argument from ignorance. We haven't resolved quantum mechanics or dark matter but that's probably because that's the 'border' of the program we are in... really? Far too skeptical -- indeed cynical. It is a model that works every bit as well as the theory of reality you probably function under, and is mathematically consistent to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Merton Posted May 15, 2015 #9 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I've often wondered about these glitches. How sometimes you get the feeling of being watched or someone touches you. You hear someone talking and no one is there. Just random weirdness. I don't know that what you describe are the sort of glitches involved here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoFish Posted May 15, 2015 #10 Share Posted May 15, 2015 A ghost could be the residual thought-form of someone who once existed within the system. Like a leftover. It's an interesting thought experiment. What if this supposed matrix is not a computer program but the side effect of billions of human minds connected together. Like a wired collective unconscious. Creating a very very lucid dream in which we all exist in until we wake up. The system only keeps our mind in the right range to keep us from waking, but we create the reality. While we're all hooked to a stasis system that keeps us in hyper sleep. Sort of a Matrix-Inception mix. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted May 15, 2015 #11 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Far too skeptical -- indeed cynical. It is a model that works every bit as well as the theory of reality you probably function under, and is mathematically consistent to boot. Perhaps so Frank but the main issue I have is there isn't any evidence other than pure speculation to support a 'matrix' reality. You're jumping on the 'no evidence to the contrary' fallacy bandwagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted May 15, 2015 #12 Share Posted May 15, 2015 By the way, it's good to see you around again Frank, I hope all is well with you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted May 15, 2015 #13 Share Posted May 15, 2015 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted May 15, 2015 #14 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Well, I know the Konami code doesn't work, I tried... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Merton Posted May 15, 2015 #15 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Perhaps so Frank but the main issue I have is there isn't any evidence other than pure speculation to support a 'matrix' reality. You're jumping on the 'no evidence to the contrary' fallacy bandwagon. I don't know that there is "no evidence" and I doubt you do either. Sounds to me like people have already cited some. When it comes to theories as to the nature of reality, evidence is kinda hard to come by and even harder to assess. By the way, I've jumped on no bandwagons -- I have no basis for doing so and am neutral -- and you have no "evidence" for having concluded otherwise. By the way, it's good to see you around again Frank, I hope all is well with you. Thanks. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Willis Posted May 15, 2015 #16 Share Posted May 15, 2015 British philosopher Nick Bostrom says he believes that the reality we perceive around us may be the product of a highly-advanced computer program, much like the plot of the Matrix movies - and surprisingly NASA have said they agree with him. Dr Bostrom proposed in a paper he wrote that an evolved race of aliens have imprisoned the human-race in what he refers to as a "digital imprisonment". http://yournewswire....liens-say-nasa/ Isn't this what David Icke of shape-shifting alien lizards fame said some time ago? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kartikg Posted May 15, 2015 #17 Share Posted May 15, 2015 The computational power required is too large. Not only physics simulated but chemical reaction and thoughts of humans as well as animals simulated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoFish Posted May 15, 2015 #18 Share Posted May 15, 2015 The computational power required is too large. Not only physics simulated but chemical reaction and thoughts of humans as well as animals simulated. What if this supposed matrix is not a computer program but the side effect of billions of human minds connected together. Like a wired collective unconscious. Creating a very very lucid dream in which we all exist in until we wake up. Wouldn't something like this require far less computing power. Since basically all you have is a collective reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlyeh Posted May 15, 2015 #19 Share Posted May 15, 2015 http://www.dailymail...s-universe.html geo 600 project http://www.symmetrym...raphic-universe Neither of these have anything to do with the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Smoke aLot Posted May 15, 2015 #20 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Wow, original idea, doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalmoxis Posted May 15, 2015 #21 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I am going to say no, I don't believe we are in an alien's virtual reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted May 16, 2015 #22 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I don't know that there is "no evidence" and I doubt you do either. Sounds to me like people have already cited some. When it comes to theories as to the nature of reality, evidence is kinda hard to come by and even harder to assess. By the way, I've jumped on no bandwagons -- I have no basis for doing so and am neutral -- and you have no "evidence" for having concluded otherwise. Thanks. Will Occam's razor suffice then? Do we assume that the observable universe is as we see it and real or do we assume that our reality is a matrix developed by aliens and the whole host of other assumptions that go along with that? It makes for a decent thought experiment, granted but little else I'm afraid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted May 16, 2015 #23 Share Posted May 16, 2015 The computational power required is too large. Not only physics simulated but chemical reaction and thoughts of humans as well as animals simulated. If our universe is indeed just a simulation, you can't base what would be possible "outside" of it from what we see is possible from the inside, in here. A crude example; a computer in a "The Sims" game capabilities in comparison to ours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawken Posted May 16, 2015 #24 Share Posted May 16, 2015 You suppose Mario and Luigi ponder their reality? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Merton Posted May 16, 2015 #25 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I think by Occam's Razor the projection theory is simplest; reality is damn complicated. Also I would say we don't know what sort of computer would be needed since we don't know the algorithms involved, and some very complicated things can come from simple algorithms. I've for a long time thought something along these lines is probably behind what we perceive as reality, but never thought it terribly important. It's kinda like arguing if there was a real Robin Hood. Whether or not, the universe is what it is, and we perceive the universe the way we perceive it. (Maybe I speak too quickly here -- on further thought, if it should be that there are shortcuts available to us within reality as is hinted within quantum phenomena so that we can do godlike things, maybe the whole thing could turn out to be more important than it now seems). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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