Is the entire universe just a simulation ?

[barbco196]

The jars have no labels. There more like large eggs that hold human brains. All wired into a neural network which allows us to create the simulated reality. None of us are real.

Eggs. Then something hatched our brains? Which came first?

[LV-426]

What if all our brains are in jars and we live is a dream like state, creating the universe as we go along. Eventually 'death' occurs and we 'reincarnate' with a new identity. Sort of a reboot.

Can't let this comment pass without a link to The Man with Two Brains!

[XenoFish]

Eggs. Then something hatched our brains? Which came first?

No, no my dear it's a metaphor. Some brains are raw and waiting to become something. Others are hard boiled, then there are those who's brains are rotten. Just plan rotten. If we're not careful our alien master will scramble our brains and reset the neural matrix. Beware, beware.

[cerberusxp]

It's a little more complicated than that. There are many universes existing in the same place at the same time. You/we exist in all of them in all times. What I'm trying to say here is upon this earth in this particular bubble in time and space we perceive time. You'll find out when you die. A part of you may linger upon the earth after death, I had a friend whose partial spirit remained. But his main essence went on. He was seen by his family for several years walking through the house.

[barbco196]

No, no my dear it's a metaphor. Some brains are raw and waiting to become something. Others are hard boiled, then there are those who's brains are rotten. Just plan rotten. If we're not careful our alien master will scramble our brains and reset the neural matrix. Beware, beware.

I gotcha. I'm feelin it. I'm sure my egg is brightly decorated. Not the ranks of a Fabergé, just along the lines of an Easter egg.

[barbco196]

It's a little more complicated than that. There are many universes existing in the same place at the same time. You/we exist in all of them in all times. What I'm trying to say here is upon this earth in this particular bubble in time and space we perceive time. You'll find out when you die. A part of you may linger upon the earth after death, I had a friend whose partial spirit remained. But his main essence went on. He was seen by his family for several years walking through the house.

Many Worlds theory. I can believe that is a possibility.

[XenoFish]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

[TheGreatBeliever]

Sometimes I feel like that. U feel whizzy in the head..

[CJ1983]

Yes, yes it is.

[lightly]

so, we have simulated people, taking simulated readings and measurements ,of simulated forces, in a simulated universe.

i don't think so.

[Skulduggery]

Simulation of what? I think it depends on how you look at it. What is physical to us may be dependent on the universe we inhabit. This doesn't make anything less real. We perceive things around us and that is at the mercy of our own consciousness. My interpretation is that the universe is a data repository and consciousness is the Interface..

[WolfHawk]

On 4/14/2016 at 1:10 PM, LV-426 said:

Picture our descendants playing 'The Sims' in a century or so

Wait...wouldn't our descendents BE The Sims?

[zep73]

On 5/22/2020 at 12:15 AM, WolfHawk said:

Wait...wouldn't our descendents BE The Sims?

Yes, if we are Sims, then our descendents are also Sims. Sims make Sims make Sims.

But that's not what "ancestor simulation" is about.

[zep73]

@ChrLzs I thought it would be a better idea to discuss this in a more relevant thread.

You were saying

Quote

Frankly, the simulation musing has some rather huge holes in it - as I said, does that mean the programmer is in a simulation too?  If not, where did they come from?  It's just moving the question one level down in an infinity...

Plus, does it run on some kind of 'computer'?  If so, how does it have the capacity to cover the Cosmos, including inwards down to sub-atomic particles and forces, and outwards to the most distant galaxies - all of which have to simulated down to that sub-atomic level.  The 'computer' must be much much larger than the Cosmos...  They must have a pretty good IT section...

The simulation-in-simulation argument is primarily based on the assumption, that the universe hosting the computer simulating us, is exactly the same as ours. I find that unlikely, because we know that such a universe probably would be incapable of producing our simulation. So if we are simulated, it must be different. Like not having quantum mechanics and having a different computer technology.

To simulate a world in a universe, you don't need to simulate every particle in said universe, you just need to simulate what the inhabitants of the world are looking at. Everything else can be surface only. That corresponds well with the holographic principle, which says that all information of an object is stored on its surface.

Regarding their computing capacity, I would assume that theirs make ours look like toys.

[zep73]

@Green Wasp it's better if we discuss this in an appropriate thread, like this.

You were saying

Quote

A simulated universe hypothesis is like saying the universe is solipsistic.

Why can it only be such a limited version? Can you elaborate?

[The_Phantom_Stranger]

1 hour ago, sci-nerd said:

@Green Wasp it's better if we discuss this in an appropriate thread, like this.

You were saying

Why can it only be such a limited version? Can you elaborate

Because it is derealizing, depersonalizing and disassociating. It's basically the next level up at being solpsistic about life. Calling the universe a simulation is like putting blinders on yourself to say what is really happening is not happening. Obviously, the wrong way to describe it. It is like a nihilism of the senses. Also, it might as well be God who is in charge of the simulation. 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Green Wasp

[zep73]

1 minute ago, Green Wasp said:

Because it is derealizing, depersonalizing and disassociating. It's basically the next level up at being solpsistic about life. Calling the universe a simulation is like putting blinders on yourself to say what is really happening is not happening. Obviously, the wrong way to describe it. It is like a nihilism of the senses. Also, it might as well be a god who is in charge of the simulation. 

Isn't that a personal and emotional response to a - for you - dreadful version of reality? I mean, I see it completely differently.

[The_Phantom_Stranger]

Just now, sci-nerd said:

Isn't that a personal and emotional response to a - for you - dreadful version of reality? I mean, I see it completely differently.

It depends what angle you are looking at this from.

[zep73]

18 minutes ago, Green Wasp said:

It depends what angle you are looking at this from.

My angle is: Wow, we might have solved all the riddles of the universe! We might understand it fully. We might know what it's all about.

I use the word 'might', because there are no complete certainties in science. But in the future, that certainty can grow, if we find more evidence.

Besides, I fail to see the difference between an insignificant physical life, and a simulated life. It feels the same.

Edited May 26, 2020 by sci-nerd

[The_Phantom_Stranger]

31 minutes ago, sci-nerd said:

My angle is: Wow, we might have solved all the riddles of the universe! We might understand it fully. We might know what it's all about.

I use the word 'might', because there are no complete certainties in science. But in the future, that certainty can grow, if we find more evidence.

Besides, I fail to see the difference between an insignificant physical life, and a simulated life. It feels the same.

Probably because everything gets simulated when it passes through the senses to the brain. The rest of the world is still physically there. That's how it is solipsism. 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Green Wasp

[zep73]

3 minutes ago, Green Wasp said:

Probably because everything gets simulated when it passes through the senses to the brain. The rest of the world is still physically there. That's how it is solipsism. 

Every man is an island, as they say...

I know it's "no man is an island", but it feels like every man is, most the time.

Edited May 26, 2020 by sci-nerd

[The_Phantom_Stranger]

1 hour ago, sci-nerd said:

Every man is an island, as they say...

I know it's "no man is an island", but it feels like every man is, most the time.

"No Man is an island, entire of itself," and I think when one starts relating with other people the idea that the universe is a simulation becomes non-realistic.

[zep73]

Quote

I'm going to expand on Chucks question...about the 51%.  I get that you are basically saying you are slightly more convinced this is a simulation than convinced that it is not.  So those numbers are just to explain that you think it is...I get that. 

What I don't get is...Why.   Why would you be more inclined to think this is a simulation when there isn't a spec of a flavor of evidence pointing toward that.  The larger question is:  With regards to Xenofish...If this is a simulation then you don't have a clue what 'real' reality is.  Real Reality being defined as, the reality experienced by the originators of the simulation.  Therefore, if you don't have a clue what Real Reality is, how is it that you have 51 % vs 49% of a clue of what a simulation of Real Reality is?

Thanks for the question, @joc

Well I guess it's due to my approach to the subject. I was looking for explanations to quantum phenomena, like duality, and the explanation from the simulation hypothesis just hit me like a brick wall. Everything in QM suddenly made sense. There was logic in it after all. Duality is just graphics rendering.

I am still excited about how perfectly it fits and solves the problems, and I still wonder why there aren't any better solutions. After all, it's been over 100 years so far.

Another personal aspect is a sense of 'something fishy about everything'. Descartes demon. Zhuangzi's butterfly. I've always felt a bit like a spectator to the world, rather than being a part of it. But that's not why I am in favor of the hypothesis, it's just something I remember, looking back, that makes a bit more sense now, if the hypothesis is correct.

Please note: This is not something I believe in. I suspect it. And I think there is evidence, although it's moot for some people.

[zep73]

1 hour ago, Green Wasp said:

I think when one starts relating with other people the idea that the universe is a simulation becomes non-realistic.

So many things in science seems unrealistic. This would just add to the pile.

Did you know that, if the empty space in the atoms of your body was removed, you'd disappear, and become smaller than an atom.

A sense of realism is not the proper tool to try to crack the riddles of the universe.

Edited May 27, 2020 by sci-nerd

[+joc]

59 minutes ago, sci-nerd said:

Thanks for the question, @joc

Well I guess it's due to my approach to the subject. I was looking for explanations to quantum phenomena, like duality, and the explanation from the simulation hypothesis just hit me like a brick wall. Everything in QM suddenly made sense. There was logic in it after all. Duality is just graphics rendering.

I am still excited about how perfectly it fits and solves the problems, and I still wonder why there aren't any better solutions. After all, it's been over 100 years so far.

Another personal aspect is a sense of 'something fishy about everything'. Descartes demon. Zhuangzi's butterfly. I've always felt a bit like a spectator to the world, rather than being a part of it. But that's not why I am in favor of the hypothesis, it's just something I remember, looking back, that makes a bit more sense now, if the hypothesis is correct.

Please note: This is not something I believe in. I suspect it. And I think there is evidence, although it's moot for some people.

When you speak of 'duality'...exactly what are you speaking of?  And what is the problem that you seek the answers to?