186 replies to this topic

[maestro949]

If we live in a simulation, one has to wonder how deeply are these simulations are nested and/or if there are many running in parallel. Another thought is that we might be competing against other simulations where the goal is to see which evolutionary model advances technology the fastest and furthest for the sake of the creators. If simulations are designed to provide answers, then we should build one to see if intelligent species within our simulated universe can find a way to determine if they are in one, and if they can, then find a way out. That would help us do the same! All intelligent agents could use this knowledge to work their way back up to the top level universe, the one that actually exists and we can live happily ever after.

[dr_chaos]

Not exactly. From objective standpoint there are value systems which don't think anything is wrong with Holocaust given the situation in Germany back then and value systems which come to a contrary evaluation of what the Nazis did. Such conclusions depend on the premises the value systems are built upon. And you can build a value system on any normative statement, since it is impossible to deduct normative statements from nature and it is therefore, that it is impossible to judge them without using other normative statements, which prevents you from building something like an all time hierarchy of ethical principals. If the most important principle of a system by definition is to kill all Jews on earth as cruel as possible, you can criticize the system and the principals which are deduced from it based on the criteria of anther moral system but never in a fashion like "this system is absolutely and generally wrong".

It's normative statement, not evaluative. Just learned about that.

[100YearsToGo]

If we live in a simulation the following probably holds true for the creator of the simulation:

1) He stands outside of time. This is because in our universe, interesting things take millions of years to unfold. I don't think the creator of the sim would be willing to wait that long. Probably time is just a construct built into the simulation. The creator is probably outside of time.

3) He is not 3 dimensional and can travel faster than light. To follow the simulation and to learn of it. He must be able to probe it at any place and at at any time.

4) He wrote the natural laws in the simulator. He may have made escape from the sim impossible by restricting travel velocity. You can not get to the edge of the universe.
5) He is not subjected to natural laws himself because he wrote them
6) He could change laws in the sim with a couple of key strokes

He must be a strange strange creature. Maybe a Boltzmann brain floating in chaos.

Edited by 100YearsToGo, 01 March 2009 - 03:16 PM.

[meow44]

this is an interesting topic. thanks for sharing

simulation assurance vie

[cyborgdreamer]

1) He stands outside of time. This is because in our universe, interesting things take millions of years to unfold. I don't think the creator of the sim would be willing to wait that long. Probably time is just a construct built into the simulation. The creator is probably outside of time.

Boredom and impatience are features of the human mind. There's no reason to assume that an arbitrary creator being would just happen to share these traits.

[Solve]

I wonder if we are simulated, then there must be some sort of a preprogrammed simulated afterlife right?

Perhaps the simulation has been designed to mimic their own universe and they are facing the same problem as us......death due to unworked out events, eg. heat death of their universe, whatever,
and their purpose running the simulation is to see if we could come up with a real solution to the problem.
So they've designed the simulation so that we have the potential to create our own afterlife, bypassing the heat death/whatever of the universe.
And they may adopt our solution (afterlife method).

Solve

Edited by Solve, 26 June 2009 - 05:40 PM.

[Luna]

in reality, humans never really care if something is unethical.. they do as they wish.