Quote:
Originally posted by ARTelevision
Now we get to the core of the simulation argument. This does not purport to demonstrate that you are in a simulation. Instead, it shows that we should accept as true at least one of the following three propositions:
(1) The chances that a species at our current level of development can avoid going extinct before becoming technologically mature is negligibly small
(2) Almost no technologically mature civilisations are interested in running computer simulations of minds like ours
(3) You are almost certainly in a simulation.
Each of these three propositions may be prima facie implausible; yet, if the simulation argument is correct, at least one is true (it does not tell us which).
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I think this list is incomplete. I propose a fourth option: "You are not in a simulation *and* there are many advanced civilisations that are interested in simulations of minds." The options are not mutually exclusive. Writing off the first two options does not automatically mean there are a near-infinite amount of simulated minds, nor does it mean that *we* are simulated minds (not even probably!).
And this whole discussion isn't that new or revolutionary. It's a very old philosophical problem: how do you know that the world is real, if reality is always filtered and adjusted by your own mind? This simulation argument merely adds the idea that your mind might not be real either.
...which leads to the obvious question: does it really matter?
If we are in a simulation, we'll never know about it unless our designers (gods) performed some direct intervention, which would ruin the hypothetical simulation. Unless the whole simulation was aimed at testing what happens when simulated humans find out they're simulated, of course...
Even if this latter option was true, it is unlikely we'll ever see this, given the length of the simulation run, and the relative length of our simulated lives. Unless the simulation only started a few seconds ago, and every memory was planted by the designers...
(Dear designers: please insert Object_Girlfriend(Rich,Sexy,Smart,Nice) into my simulated life. Thank you.)