Expert Says Humans are Aliens

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Way off topic here, well, actually very on topic in my mind because I've thought about it a lot. If too heavy/not fun enough, just tell me to [expletive] off.

When thinking of everything as a simulation, I always find a ton of parallels to religions of the world:
1. Everything, from the beginning of life to the physical laws, is created by a higher power. Very different creators, possibly, but similar in the sense that they'd be omnipotent from our perspective.
2. Ultimately, being in a simulation would mean your purpose, through no choice of your own, is to serve the creator. Rather that's entertainment or research or something we can't even imagine yet is irrelevant. The simulation has value to the creator or it wouldn't exist. A strong connection can be drawn to the religious folks that believe their purpose is to serve their god. The later is an active choice while the former is, I'd guess, an unavoidable realization. Regardless, same purpose.
3. It requires faith based on little to nothing. There are ancient books pointing to the basis of religions and there is somewhat decent deductive reasoning, based on what is known today (which is admittedly very little but also vastly more than was known thousands of years ago), pointing to a simulation being a possibility. That's not to say the same level of certainty exists.
4. Anything that happens in the 'world' can be explained away by the belief in a simulation or a god as a glitch in the matrix or a miracle.

The obvious difference is no one worships, prays to, or tithes in the name of the creator of a simulation, nor is there any notion of an after life. Still, there's a lot of similarities...in my mind at least.

[Michael]

I 100% agree - the simulation argument is philosophy. So is religion. I think one key difference however is most people who discuss the simulation argument see it as a possibility where most religions proclaim it's the absolute truth.

(BTW, you can have an afterlife in a simulation)

[GeddyWrox]

Dude, you have to watch Into the Spiderverse. It was amazing.

[TGantz]

Way off topic here, well, actually very on topic in my mind because I've thought about it a lot. If too heavy/not fun enough, just tell me to [expletive] off.

When thinking of everything as a simulation, I always find a ton of parallels to religions of the world:
1. Everything, from the beginning of life to the physical laws, is created by a higher power. Very different creators, possibly, but similar in the sense that they'd be omnipotent from our perspective.
2. Ultimately, being in a simulation would mean your purpose, through no choice of your own, is to serve the creator. Rather that's entertainment or research or something we can't even imagine yet is irrelevant. The simulation has value to the creator or it wouldn't exist. A strong connection can be drawn to the religious folks that believe their purpose is to serve their god. The later is an active choice while the former is, I'd guess, an unavoidable realization. Regardless, same purpose.
3. It requires faith based on little to nothing. There are ancient books pointing to the basis of religions and there is somewhat decent deductive reasoning, based on what is known today (which is admittedly very little but also vastly more than was known thousands of years ago), pointing to a simulation being a possibility. That's not to say the same level of certainty exists.
4. Anything that happens in the 'world' can be explained away by the belief in a simulation or a god as a glitch in the matrix or a miracle.

The obvious difference is no one worships, prays to, or tithes in the name of the creator of a simulation, nor is there any notion of an after life. Still, there's a lot of similarities...in my mind at least.

I had never thought about it like that. Makes sense. I hate the idea of both honestly. But it kind of has to be one or the other in my mind. Either God is real and created all of it or another entity has us under a spell and the world is not at all as we know it. The magnitude of the universe it too overwhelming to be some naturally occuring thing. What is natural? Even with Big Bang theory, what was the universe before it? Nothing? Everything?

There's a lot of weird shared experiences from people doing ayahuasca or DMT where people say they spoke to an entity that basically told them it's a simulation and to stay in it and have fun. Like dozens of people hearing the same conversation and seeing the same entity.

Look at ancient world religions. All have similar creation stories. Many have similar imagery (including flying discs btw). It's interesting that civilizations all over the world can come to the same conclusions despite having very little in common to their cultures.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I 100% agree - the simulation argument is philosophy. So is religion. I think one key difference however is most people who discuss the simulation argument see it as a possibility where most religions proclaim it's the absolute truth.

(BTW, you can have an afterlife in a simulation)

We should start a 'simulation church' promising an upgrade to a better simulation if people leave us all their money.

There's your ticket to [expletive] you money.

Obligatory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJjKP8vYjpQ

[TGantz]

(BTW, you can have an afterlife in a simulation)

Wouldn't that just be taking off the VR headset and returning to your true life form?

Or do you mean there's some type of heaven/hell scenario that is as "real" as our current "real", meaning our VR headset is still on?

What if life is like a video game. The heaven/hell idea is to judge how you did during your time in the game. If you did poorly, you are put back in and come back as someone else to try again. You endure another life of suffering, but you don't know about your past life. If you did well, you go to "heaven" and it's either an awesome simulation or you just get to take off your VR set.

Edit- I was playing a survival game with my wife the other day and she likes the settings at extremely easy. She likes to build things and forage and take it easy. I want the settings to be challenging and for us to struggle. When a sandbox type of game is too easy, I lose interest very easily.

Maybe we are all Gods and we put ourselves in the simulation because what is the point of life with no struggle or pain?

[Michael]

(BTW, you can have an afterlife in a simulation)

Wouldn't that just be taking off the VR headset and returning to your true life form?

Or do you mean there's some type of heaven/hell scenario that is as "real" as our current "real", meaning our VR headset is still on?

What if life is like a video game. The heaven/hell idea is to judge how you did during your time in the game. If you did poorly, you are put back in and come back as someone else to try again. You endure another life of suffering, but you don't know about your past life. If you did well, you go to "heaven" and it's either an awesome simulation or you just get to take off your VR set.

Edit- I was playing a survival game with my wife the other day and she likes the settings at extremely easy. She likes to build things and forage and take it easy. I want the settings to be challenging and for us to struggle. When a sandbox type of game is too easy, I lose interest very easily.

Maybe we are all Gods and we put ourselves in the simulation because what is the point of life with no struggle or pain?

Yeah, you're touching on different simulation variants. If a simulator is actively involved they could program a heaven and/or hell. Kind of like a video game.

My personal favorite variant is a universe simulation. Basically the conditions for the big bang are created in a computer and we're just a side effect of that simulation.

I think the best argument against a simulation is the power requirements it would take simulate earth is unrealistically huge based on our current understanding of computer science. We either need a major step forward in computer science or an alien civilization with access to power that's totally different than what we have.

If you believe we're not in a simulation it means you don't think any human or alien civilization will ever be able to create a simulation as good as reality. Or for whatever reason they have the capability to create a simulation but decide not to. It's kind of a pessimistic outlook.

[Arthur Dent]

Way off topic here, well, actually very on topic in my mind because I've thought about it a lot. If too heavy/not fun enough, just tell me to [expletive] off.

When thinking of everything as a simulation, I always find a ton of parallels to religions of the world:
1. Everything, from the beginning of life to the physical laws, is created by a higher power. Very different creators, possibly, but similar in the sense that they'd be omnipotent from our perspective.
2. Ultimately, being in a simulation would mean your purpose, through no choice of your own, is to serve the creator. Rather that's entertainment or research or something we can't even imagine yet is irrelevant. The simulation has value to the creator or it wouldn't exist. A strong connection can be drawn to the religious folks that believe their purpose is to serve their god. The later is an active choice while the former is, I'd guess, an unavoidable realization. Regardless, same purpose.
3. It requires faith based on little to nothing. There are ancient books pointing to the basis of religions and there is somewhat decent deductive reasoning, based on what is known today (which is admittedly very little but also vastly more than was known thousands of years ago), pointing to a simulation being a possibility. That's not to say the same level of certainty exists.
4. Anything that happens in the 'world' can be explained away by the belief in a simulation or a god as a glitch in the matrix or a miracle.

The obvious difference is no one worships, prays to, or tithes in the name of the creator of a simulation, nor is there any notion of an after life. Still, there's a lot of similarities...in my mind at least.

More than similarities. Belief in The Simulation is belief in God. Full stop. It’s amusing that using a tech framing to talk about God makes the idea acceptable to some in the self-identified Science and Reason audience.

[Michael]

More than similarities. Belief in The Simulation is belief in God. Full stop. It’s amusing that using a tech framing to talk about God makes the idea acceptable to some in the self-identified Science and Reason audience.

I'm splitting hairs, but it kind of depends if your definition of God has a supernatural element. I think that's one reason The Simulation gets more traction in science circles. It doesn't require the supernatural.

The simulation argument isn't even original. It's just a new school spin on an old metaphysical philosophical question. The Greeks used to ask "how do you know this isn't just a dream?" It's the same basic idea.

[G. Keenan]

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

-John Lennon