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NOT by "computers"

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
My view of the world has changed:

I don’t mean that it is literally a computer simulation!
I believe that the reality of the situation is far more complex than we can ever hope to understand
I think the true nature of our existence is ineffable
But yes, it is a bit like a computer simulation​
 

osgart

Nothing my eye, Something for sure
If this is a simulation then I have to ask what the simulation is made of?

Seems like one cannot separate one's self from base reality. So in a simulation things are not as they appear, but they can't be totally illusory, nor totally imaginary.

Furthermore perhaps we can only reduce ourselves to information. I think the information concept will actually lead to explanations. Things like value, meaning, and purpose may play a role in ultimate reality though.

For now I see too much detail in mundane physical reality to ever think this is a simulation. Maybe we all need to take a trip on Blue Origins like William Shatner did and see if we can spot any bugs in space simulation. That would be a fantastic reality check.
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
If this is a simulation then I have to ask what the simulation is made of?

Seems like one cannot separate one's self from base reality. So in a simulation things are not as they appear, but they can't be totally illusory, nor totally imaginary.
Perhaps "The Simulation" is made out of "base reality" that has been shaped by a Demiurge into a system that it can control?
 

osgart

Nothing my eye, Something for sure
Perhaps "The Simulation" is made out of "base reality" that has been shaped by a Demiurge into a system that it can control?

That's a very creative idea. What reasons would the Demiurge have for putting conscious creatures into this state of existence?

Is this speculation have anything to do with the holographic principle?
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
That's a very creative idea. What reasons would the Demiurge have for putting conscious creatures into this state of existence?
I don't know

Company? Something to occupy itself with?

Maybe it was simply programmed to do so? So has no real reasons?

Is this speculation have anything to do with the holographic principle?
I've never really understood or looked into that
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
My view of the world has changed:

I don’t mean that it is literally a computer simulation!
I believe that the reality of the situation is far more complex than we can ever hope to understand
I think the true nature of our existence is ineffable
But yes, it is a bit like a computer simulation​
What do you base your ever-changing view of the world on? Because so far, most of what you seem to think about it doesn't seem to be based on anything except pure imagination, coupled with a desire that it be anything but what it manifestly appears to be.

For me, I think if we just look at the world, assume that it is much as we perceive it (while acknowledging that our perceptions are not reality, but that we can compensate for a great deal of what we can't perceive), then it makes perfect sense -- as it is.

That humans are another species of life on a planet upon which life formed by natural causes and evolved in myriad ways. That we live -- and then we die. That our consciousness is a result of the chemical and electrical process of our immensely complex brains -- and does not exist when those brains no longer function.

And that if we are to continue to survive on this increasingly fragile planet (because we can't go anywhere else), we'd better smarten up PDQ.
 

Suave

Simulated character
What role if any do you foresee brain to computer interface (B.C.I.) technology in the use of virtual realities or simulated worlds?

 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
What role if any do you foresee brain to computer interface (B.C.I.) technology in the use of virtual realities or simulated worlds?
I will stick to the positive possibilities, not the scary terrible horrific ones though there are many.

1. Help the blind. No more blind people ever. Wow, what a great thing!
2. Memory improvement. Train the memory with biofeedback, increase memory power -- perhaps exponentially.
3. Help the deaf. No more deaf people.
4. Help crazy people. No more crazy fearful people. Early detection and prevention of horrible problems. Yay.
5. No more permanent drug addiction. Trace the cause of the addiction in the brain, and treat it.
6. Talk to animals. Yes, if it works on humans it can work on animals.
7. Thought control of robots, factory machines, etc.
8. Ultimate video game interface.
9. Thought control of body replacement parts.
 

Suave

Simulated character
What do you base your ever-changing view of the world on? Because so far, most of what you seem to think about it doesn't seem to be based on anything except pure imagination, coupled with a desire that it be anything but what it manifestly appears to be.

For me, I think if we just look at the world, assume that it is much as we perceive it (while acknowledging that our perceptions are not reality, but that we can compensate for a great deal of what we can't perceive), then it makes perfect sense -- as it is.

That humans are another species of life on a planet upon which life formed by natural causes and evolved in myriad ways. That we live -- and then we die. That our consciousness is a result of the chemical and electrical process of our immensely complex brains -- and does not exist when those brains no longer function.

And that if we are to continue to survive on this increasingly fragile planet (because we can't go anywhere else), we'd better smarten up PDQ.

Pig brains have been kept alive for over 36 hours after the death of the pig's bodies. What if human brains could also be kept alive after the death of the bodies from where they were embodied? What if disembodied minds could be interfaced with power computers connecting disembodied minds to virtual reality worlds? Then who is to say each of us aren't one of these disembodied minds interfaced with a powerful computer by a controller simulating our realities?

 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Pig brains have been kept alive for over 36 hours after the death of the pig's bodies. What if human brains could also be kept alive after the death of the bodies from where they were embodied? What if disembodied minds could be interfaced with power computers connecting disembodied minds to virtual reality worlds? Then who is to say each of us aren't one of these disembodied minds interfaced with a powerful computer by a controller simulating our realities?

Fascinating....I'm sure.

Any information on what those pig brains were thinking? Or were they just "alive" in terms of cell life? What, did nobody even ask?

My brain was alive through each of my surgeries under a general anaesthetic, but it wasn't doing anything that I was conscious about. That is to say, it did the autonomic things that kept my body alive, but there was no "me" there -- my consciousness had been shut down. (Thank goodness. The notion of being split open down the middle while conscious is just a tad disconcerting.)

But you ask "if" something is possible -- and then immediately up the ante by asking "who is to say..." that it's not happening.

What you don't do, I'm sorry to point out, is to provide even the tiniest reason to suppose that it might be happening. Or under what control, what circumstance. In other words, you seem to lean into accepting the reality of something that you can imagine, with no other reason THAN your imagination.
 

Suave

Simulated character
Fascinating....I'm sure.

Any information on what those pig brains were thinking? Or were they just "alive" in terms of cell life? What, did nobody even ask?

My brain was alive through each of my surgeries under a general anaesthetic, but it wasn't doing anything that I was conscious about. That is to say, it did the autonomic things that kept my body alive, but there was no "me" there -- my consciousness had been shut down. (Thank goodness. The notion of being split open down the middle while conscious is just a tad disconcerting.)

But you ask "if" something is possible -- and then immediately up the ante by asking "who is to say..." that it's not happening.

What you don't do, I'm sorry to point out, is to provide even the tiniest reason to suppose that it might be happening. Or under what control, what circumstance. In other words, you seem to lean into accepting the reality of something that you can imagine, with no other reason THAN your imagination.

A realistic simulation would be indistinguishable from base reality, hence the simulation hypothesis is neither verifiable nor falsifiable. Nevertheless, I concur with Nick Bostrom's reasoning why we are very likely living in a simulated reality.

Bostrom argues that at least ONE of the following propositions must be true:

(1) The human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage.

(2) Any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof).

(3) We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

Since there is a significant chance that a future generation of technologically advanced post-humans will run ancestor-simulations by powerful computers, then we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

 
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Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
A realistic simulation would be indistinguishable from base reality, hence the simulation hypothesis is neither verifiable nor falsifiable. Nevertheless, I concur with Nick Bostrom's reasoning why we are very likely living in a simulated reality.

Bostrom argues that at least ONE of the following propositions must be true:

(1) The human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage.

(2) Any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof).

(3) We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

Since there is a significant chance that a future generation of technologically advanced post-humans will run ancestor-simulations by powerful computers, then we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

Okay, sorry to say it, but that was nonsense.

Dinosaurs went extinct before the "post-dinosaur stage" which is essentially chickens, and a bunch of other stuff. So what?

"Any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history." What? How can you know -- do you see the future, so that you can know what any "posthuman civilization" is likely or not likely to do? Good grief!

"We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation." And the evidence for that near certainty is...... ?
 
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