Can your religion survive Simulation Theory?

[Eddi]

Question: Would your religion survive if Simulation Theory (the notion that this reality is a computer simulation) was demonstrated to be true? And why/why not?

For me:

No, it wouldn’t. It would be the end of Christianity. Because all the miracles of Christ could be explained as the rules of The Simulation being suspended and Christ himself (if he ever lived) could be explained as being something other than the son of God - namely a bizarre intervention into the affairs of The Simulation by the over-seers. It would make Christianity inauthentic in that it would mean that Christ was something other than the son of God, namely a device operated by the over-seers, to manipulate humankind. His resurrection would mean nothing, it would simply be the over-seers meddling in the operation of The Simulation, to mess us about and have us on.

If Simulation Theory is true then Christianity is false.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Question: Would your religion survive if Simulation Theory (the notion that this reality is a computer simulation) was demonstrated to be true? And why/why not?

Yes.

Advaita Vedanta posits that our perceived reality (maya) is illusory and that only Ultimate Reality (Brahman) is real. If you were to replace "simulation" with maya and "computer" with Brahman, you have, in a nutshell, Advaita Vedanta.

 

[Heyo]

Question: Would your religion survive if Simulation Theory (the notion that this reality is a computer simulation) was demonstrated to be true? And why/why not?

For me:

No, it wouldn’t. It would be the end of Christianity. Because all the miracles of Christ could be explained as the rules of The Simulation being suspended and Christ himself (if he ever lived) could be explained as being something other than the son of God - namely a bizarre intervention into the affairs of The Simulation by the over-seers. It would make Christianity inauthentic in that it would mean that Christ was something other than the son of God, namely a device operated by the over-seers, to manipulate humankind. His resurrection would mean nothing, it would simply be the over-seers meddling in the operation of The Simulation, to mess us about and have us on.

If Simulation Theory is true then Christianity is false.

The simulation hypothesis puts every creation based religion in question, even deism.
It solves the creation paradox as well as the fine tuning problem.

 

[Eddi]

The simulation hypothesis puts every creation based religion in question, even deism.
It solves the creation paradox as well as the fine tuning problem.

But does it, though?

Surely it merely displaces these problems - e.g. was are the origins of the universe in which The Simulation is maintained, in "base reality"?

 

[Heyo]

But does it, though?

Surely it merely displaces these problems - e.g. was are the origins of the universe in which The Simulation is maintained, in "base reality"?

It doesn't have to have one. While our universe is expanding and has to have a tempo-spacial beginning, a steady-state universe doesn't. The fine tuning can be explained by trial and error. Two of the best arguments vanish.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Question: Would your religion survive if Simulation Theory (the notion that this reality is a computer simulation) was demonstrated to be true? And why/why not?
- namely a bizarre intervention into the affairs of The Simulation by the over-seers.

My belief is based on 'simulation'. It would happily walk hand in hand with it. But my simulation is without 'over-seers', it is autonomous, the property of 'what exists'.

 

[Roguish]

Because all the miracles of Christ could be explained as the rules of The Simulation being suspended

So what? From the perspective of those inside the simulation, they remain what they are: miracles. They don't become less miraculous because of this explanation. Inside the simulation most of us don't have the power to suspend the rules, so to us miracles are still miracles.

Christ himself (if he ever lived) could be explained as being something other than the son of God - namely a bizarre intervention into the affairs of The Simulation by the over-seers.

An intervention, yes, but why bizarre? Could it be that the "overseers", as you call them, are trying to save those of us who are stuck in the simulation? So maybe the intervention isn't "bizarre" but a tremendous act of Mercy. So this too does not necessarily diminish the validity of Christianity.

it would mean that Christ was something other than the son of God, namely a device operated by the over-seers, to manipulate humankind.

If we think of God as the head honcho of the overseers, their "boss" as it were, and it was His decision to send Christ into the world, then Christ could still be called the Son of God. Besides, you assume that just because it's a simulation all overseers are trying to manipulate us, and that Christ would then be one instance of such manipulation. But as I already pointed out, it could well be that some overseers and possibly God Himself aren't trying to manipulate us, but are trying to show us the way out of the simulation. (Btw, I do agree that some overseers are trying to manipulate us, but I don't think of them as being on God's team. To me they are "breakaway" overseers on the Evil team.)

In short, to me the simulation theory does not invalidate Christianity or religion in general. I can't think of a single important religious concept that falls apart. Everything can be reinterpreted in a straightforward way to fit with the simulation theory, and such reinterpretation doesn't even change the meaning of these concepts for us inside the simulation.

 

[Native]

Question: Would your religion survive if Simulation Theory (the notion that this reality is a computer simulation) was demonstrated to be true?

No PC simulations can ever describe the entire religious ideas anyway.