You, Your God, and the Computer Simulation Argument

[Pine]

There is a current theory, posited by Nick Bostrom of Oxford University, that we may be living in a computer simulation created by future humans to study the ways of the past. This is also referred to as "ancestor simulation".

Supposing this was fact, and you learned that God is a future human, how would you feel about your god and your religion? Would you stick to your beliefs and deny fact, or would you accept the new paradigm?

If you're an atheist, how would this revelation affect your disbelief?

Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?

 

[Ouroboros]

It doesn't bother me or affect me much. I know that I have experiences. As long as I exist, in whatever shape or form that happens to be in some ultimate reality, I will continue to live that life to the best of my ability.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

There is a current theory, posited by Nick Bostrom of Oxford University, that we may be living in a computer simulation created by future humans to study the ways of the past. This is also referred to as "ancestor simulation".

Supposing this was fact, and you learned that God is a future human, how would you feel about your god and your religion? Would you stick to your beliefs and deny fact, or would you accept the new paradigm?

If you're an atheist, how would this revelation affect your disbelief?

Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?

So you are asking the simulation, if it were aware it was a simulaiton, would it affect the simulation?

The original article barely mentions god, and only in the sense that the simulators would be in some ways god-like, in that they would be omnipotent so far as the simulation goes.

Would the simulation have the freewill to modify it's beliefs? In this simulation, if the simulator was all-powerful and had 100% control over the simulaiton, then how could the simulation modify it's own beliefs?

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

There is a current theory, posited by Nick Bostrom of Oxford University, that we may be living in a computer simulation created by future humans to study the ways of the past. This is also referred to as "ancestor simulation".

Supposing this was fact, and you learned that God is a future human, how would you feel about your god and your religion? Would you stick to your beliefs and deny fact, or would you accept the new paradigm?

If you're an atheist, how would this revelation affect your disbelief?

Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?

I'd question the morals of those future humans. Given that even if I am a simulation I still believe I exist, that my pain, suffering, happiness, and joy are very much real. Isn't that a bit cruel for just a study in the past?

 

[Pine]

I'd question the morals of those future humans. Given that even if I am a simulation I still believe I exist, that my pain, suffering, happiness, and joy are very much real. Isn't that a bit cruel for just a study in the past?

The morality of such an experiment was the first thing that occurred to me too, so you're right on target there. The next question is do they actively manipulate the simulation or let it run its course?

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

The morality of such an experiment was the first thing that occurred to me too, so you're right on target there. The next question is do they actively manipulate the simulation or let it run its course?

If it is a clear scientific study I would argue that they do not manipulate the simulation. This of course assumes that time occurs linearly...I don't think modern cosmology views time as a linear progression.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

I asked simple questions. Intellectualizing the scenario is counterproductive. You cloud the issue.

I'm looking for simple, honest answers.

I would continue to adhere to the standard of truth (observational data, repeatable results, etc) I currently do. Assuming the simulation operated by a set of 'laws' I would adhere to the best hypotheses to explain observations.

 

[Parsimony]

If our world really is a true simulation of the past, then presumably all of this has already happened before (except in the "real" world). That being said, the evidence for and against any given religion should remain pretty much intact.

 

[Pine]

If our world really is a true simulation of the past, then presumably all of this has already happened before (except in the "real" world). That being said, the evidence for and against any given religion should remain pretty much intact.

Not necessarily. Future humans may have moved on from belief in such things. They may only incorporate religion in the current paradigm to stay true its history. For all we know, they're manipulating the simulation to eliminate religion in order to emulate their current civilization.

 

[Parsimony]

Not necessarily. Future humans may have moved on from belief in such things. They may only incorporate religion in the current paradigm to stay true its history. For all we know, they're manipulating the simulation to eliminate religion in order to emulate their current civilization.

This is where the "If our world really is a true simulation of the past" part of my post kicks in.

Strictly speaking, however, such a simulation could never be a perfect simulation of the past due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

//** CODE interrupt: x09-A334 */
+--program entity ERROR code 3By4: (illegal awareness of simulation program) --
+--INITIATE: code reset (AA1-00z) --
+--CLEAR: program entity memory cache (cz-01-B) --
*--RESTART: simulation --
//** LOG error */