Tue 25 Mar 2008
There’s a well-trod (if not exactly widely accepted) argument for the idea that the world we live in now could be not the real world but a simulation being run by far-flung descendents of what we think of as the modern human race. (Nick Bostrum is probably the foremost figure in this debate; but then there’s this angle on it, too.)
Settling the “if” and assuming that yes, we are in fact running on some post-singularity desktop in the year 3008, what are the hints available to us as simulated denizens in a superbly but not perfectly modeled reality? Where did they goof up? What are the gaps and the glitches in this simulation that should leave us wondering exactly what is going on?
Posted by Josh Millard4 answers so far!
Okay, let's hear it.
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In an effort to save memory, certain pieces of information will be reused, leading to seeing dopplegangers of people you know, the occasional strange feeling that you’ve seen something before somewhere else and strange coincidences coming up more often than they should.
Speaking of which, I know that house in the photo on that simulation argument webpage.
Ed Fredkin argues that the reason we must be in a computer simulation is that the initial conditions (the Big Bang in our standard model of physics) is absurdly improbable. In fact, normal physics appears to break down as you go back in time to the initial event (the inflationary model).
Other hints: quantization (implies finite information; ie real numbers rounded to integers or fixed-point), and relativity (limit on information flow speed implies a network model, ie massively parallel computing with bandwidth considerations)
there’s more but chew on this first
The concept is too complex for a one or two paragraph question setup. For example – is the simulation in question one that has simulated everything since the big-bang? IS there a ’subject’ of the simulation – ie is the simulation a study of me, and all the other people are estimates (e.g. Jean-Francois in paris is not simulated, because he exists only as a name in phone-book, unless I jump on a plane and try to find him, in which case his entity is created and run). Alternatively the simulation may only simulate the last 30 seconds. All the stuff that appears to be previous years of your life is just a pre-loaded initial condition. You never actually skinned your knee in first grade, that is a background story in your brain. We just part of a repetitive simulation of about five minutes of existence that runs over and over. It’s always just this particular 5minutes, and the previous stuff is a pre-load. Even when you think back ‘10 years from now’ about reading this comment, you didn’t actually read it 10 years ago, it was preloaded 30seconds ago.
And as Dan Miller says, there’s more… So we need to establish which of the many simulation scenarios are we potentially in… then look to poke holes in that.
Hi. I am really interested in this subject, because if I was in a simulation I would like to exit because I’m not doing too well here. The problem for me is how to get time off and money to fully figure out which of the scenenarios we are talking about, that point I agree with. I don’t know about you, but as little psychology as I know I’m under the impression most “characters2 are severly stupid and unconscious. Otherwise, they would be concerned about meanings behind songs and books, etc. At least a bigger number of them. Where is my species? Outside. My hypothesis is this one: Life is a preparation for another society where they figured out the only way to raise/recycle human beings was to make them go though some sort of life experience like this one for some for of therapy so they could adjust to their world, when you have it all figured out, you can exit -not sure of suicide is the answer bc I’m not sure about whether I’m at least 95% right- or maybe like in a “lucid dream” have some fun, then die. And I’m in love ritght now and have lots of plans, so if she loves me back I’ll consider staying. If I’m alone in a simulation a me simulation, come on you guys, let me out.
Maybe you get soem diploma or somthing, it’s like by accumulation you get smart too. If there are other players I’m kind of ok with it, if it’s a “me” simulation it sucks. There are hints in songs… about this world being fake. I think but you can take that as psychosis. Somos de otro mundo.