Simulation Questions:

 

 

 

Are we living in a simulation?

 

Probability:

 

(if we call any simulation where the internal characters believe they are real, a 'realistic simulation’).

 

The number of realistic simulations in the future will be larger than the number of real advanced technology worlds capable of creating them, therefore the odds are, that we are more likely to be living in a simulation than a real world. 

 

There is a persuasive point of view that says, that one (or more) of the following statements is true:

either

(i) our species will go extinct before reaching an advanced interstellar (and capable of creating as advanced a simulation as us) stage;

or

(ii) our species will reach an advanced stage but decide to not, for whatever reason, run a large number of simulations;

or

(iii) we are almost certainly in a simulation.

 

By using those same rules, It could also be suggested that there exists a vast stack of nested simulations. The more likely we are to be in a simulation, the more likely that that simulation is likely to be in another simulation, which is in another. etc

 

Furthermore, since the bottom of the nested hierarchy is more likely to have more simulations than the top (if each simulation runs a few simulations of its own, the number will multiply as you move down each layer of the hierarchy), it’s more likely that we’re somewhere near the bottom than the top.

 

CLUES of non-reality: (that we are a simulation)

 

spacial limits: Time, Light, and Physical limits

Because of the expansion of the universe, the further you look, the faster away from us it is moving.

 

Until at one point space is moving away at the speed of light, which means that time appears to stand still, and has done since the beginning of time.

 

It is a time limit.

 

This point of zero-time creates a sphere or limit that surrounds us in all directions. We sit in the exact centre of this sphere.

 

And the sphere is similar to a black-hole’s event horizon, in that we can not see light from the space beyond it, since it is traveling away faster than light can travel towards us.

 

It is a light limit.

 

Also no matter how fast we travel, or for how long, we can never ever reach or escape through the edge of the sphere.

 

It is a physical limit.

 

Because the expansion of the universe is accelerating, the 'time limit' is actually closer than the 'light limit’.

 

In other words, time zero is slightly closer than the blackness of the outer ‘event’ horizon. With time running backwards between these two skins.

 

EDIT: (Explained here in this link: Based on my following theory, what is the radius of the universe, and how far inside the edge sits time zero?)

 

speed limits:

absolute zero - speed of light

'absolute zero' may look like a temperature, but it is actually a speed, or lack of.

 

Absolute zero means no movement, no energy, no speed.

 

That is the bottom limit to speed.

 

Where the 'speed of light’ is the top limit to our speed.

 

quantum entanglement:

For games to simulate the enormity of a universe, down to the sub-atomic details…

 

all efficient simulations will only create the details as they are needed.

 

They only ‘render’ what will be looked at.

 

Quantum Entanglement could be seen as information that is only decided when it is looked at. When it is required.

 

conservation of energy limits:

the faster one travels, the slower time travels, maintaining the constant energy limit.

 

frame rate:

the frame rate of our visual world does not need to be analog or continuous.

 

In fact, it can be relatively quite slow for us to accept it as believable.

 

signs of external input:

looking back… there have been many times when the human race ALMOST died out, or there was a major catastrophe that ALMOST happened, but somehow didn’t.

 

Almost as if… someone went back and fixed the problem, to ensure that we survived.

 

…………

A good Movie example of a realistic simulation is The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

 

So, can I prove that we aren’t living in a simulation?

 

I am afraid I cannot.

 

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Can Classical Physics prove that we are not in a Simulation?

We live in a place that is ruled by physics.

Everything we know is controlled by physics.
Except for a few unusual situations that don’t appear to follow the rules. If we were living in a simulation, these would be called glitches.
The things that we weren’t supposed to notice.
They are called Quantum Physics. Physics that does stuff outside the known rules of physics.
An example they used, shows that certain atoms appear to be either one way or another, instead of randomly variable as classical physics would expect. And, they don’t choose which way they are, until you look at them.
This is a huge glitch! Two glitches in fact!
In a memory efficient simulation, (which it would need to be to simulate everything); on or off, and up or down, are much more efficient than every possible variable in between. Digital is more efficient than Analogue. Two numbers are more efficient than every number.
Quantum Physics shows, that when you look where you aren’t expected to look, things are being super efficient.
In a world where everything is Analogue, super tiny stuff is acting digital.
And more than that. Super tiny stuff is not even bothering to act digital, until you look at it.
In an efficient simulation, the further away something is, or the smaller something is, the less energy is wasted in rendering its details. 
And the back side of things are not rendered until they are seen.
Stuff isn’t made until it is required to be seen.
Schrödinger's cat says that something is neither dead oralive, or both, until it is looked at. In other words, the place we ‘live’, only chooses reality, when we see it.
This is Quantum Physics, and this is exactly how a simulation acts.

Light is another example of a glitch. It is a waveform, or a particle, or both. Really!? the most fundamental piece of reality can’t make its mind up? and it travels at the speed of light relative to everything. At the same time!? Is this not a glitch?
If you are standing still, light travels at the speed of light relative to you.
If you were traveling at 1000 mph, the same bit of light would still be traveling at the speed of light relative to you. 
This is a glitchright?

It could be said that Classical computers could not control our Universe.

Of course they couldn’t. Classical computers are a PART of our universe. Yes of course our universe is not created in todays computers. This would be a cyclic feedback loop. A cannot be inside B inside A… etc. 
But this does not prove that we are NOT in a simulation.
Any simulation containing us would need to be run on something a little more complex. 
And when it comes to that, very complex things can be computed on very simple devices. Much can be done on an abacus.
The simulation theory is based on the odds of us being in the one base reality, compared to the likelihood of us being in one of the uncountable millions of simulations created using future or alien technologies.

 

 

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If we are in a simulation, then why? 
For what purpose might the simulation be run?

 

(I always ask myself a question, before I answer it).

 

Even though I don’t believe that we ARE (in a simulation), and most people would like to believe that we AREn’t… 

The odds suggest that we are more likely to be, than not.

 

And although it is impossible (at this stage) to prove whether we are or are not, there are a number of clues that indicate that we certainly could be, as mentioned elsewhere here.

 

So, assuming we are in a simulation… let’s look at why simulations are run.

 

One option is for entertainment.

 

Another is to find an answer,

 

perhaps to see what went wrong, with another simulation or base reality.

 

or to predict an outcome.

 

Maybe to find a way through the universal struggle, of how to transition from ‘Life on a Planet’ to “life on multiple planets’ or ‘Interstellar Life’.

 

 

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If we are living in a simulation, what is the purpose?

 

 

If we are living in a simulation. (and that is an big IF)

there must have been a purpose.

 

Was the purpose, the trip or the goal?

 

Meaning, was life created, for the pleasure of watching life grow…

or to achieve some long term goal…

 

If there is a creator, and there was a goal…

what was mankind intended to achieve?

 

Or are we just a tiny part of the design.

 

Is Earth the life that was created, and we are just a blip on it's skin?

 

If mankind was the design… what was the intended outcome?

 

Were we intended to grow beyond the planet and spread 'the word'?

 

Or were we designed to strip the planet of resources, to preset the conditions for those that come next?

 

Are we the design… or simply the preparation stage before the real design?

 

If we are following along with what was expected of us… can we foretell what the REAL design is… if it isn't us?

 

 

 

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Does the simulation hypothesis, necessitate that I am the only one in a simulation and that everyone else is an ai?

or could it be a simulated character paired to a real person scenario?

 

If this were to be a simulation, the most likely versions would have all the characters running under AI… including you and me.

 

The only versions that might have a non-AI character, would not be strictly simulations… they would be games.

 

A game player (from outside the simulation) would most likely be a God, or an outstanding character like Jesus or Hitler etc. A hero or villain. Or someone with an unusual skill set.

 

So sorry… if this is a simulation… Then you are an AI.

(realizing of course, that none of the game characters ever know that they are driven by AI)

 

In relation to a simulated character being possibly paired to a real person scenario… This would be an unlikely simulation version. Since its only value would be to find out what ‘Fred’ might do in a certain situation.

 

It is extremely unlikely that an entire universe (or world), would be simulated to determine the outcome of one particular person.

 

A simulation of this scale, if looking for anything, is looking for a trend, or likelihood of something happening… or perhaps to see if something is achievable. For example, to see if we as a species can survive, or whether we destroy ourselves.

 

Or maybe… two or more species are put into action, to see if they ever meet, or to see which would dominate… 

Who knows… the options are endless.

 

But as I said before…

If this is simulated, and the odds are high, then we are not paired, and you are AI. Just like me.

 

 

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If we were living in a computer simulation, would it be possible to "break out"?

or

Simulation: is it possible to leave a simulation and reach base reality?

 

If we were to assume that we are in a simulation…

then we must assume that the creators of the simulation are quite a bit more advanced than we are.

 

It would seem unlikely that a simulation could be more advanced than its creators… unless the simulation was capable of self-improvement… which we potentially are. But still, WE could not create a simulation this complex as yet.

 

Also, I would like to suggest that, before we get to the stage of being able to create a simulation of this complexity and scale, the advancements in AI, will have surpassed our own abilities. In which case either we will have been replaced by the AI, or have become integrated into it.

 

Therefore, I would postulate that if we are in a simulation, then our creators are no longer simply biological as we are… and that one possible reason for our simulation, could be to grow a biological version of themselves.

 

We tend to think that a simulation must be in an electronic type of emulation. But if the creator's reality already IS electronic, then to them, a simulation could be biological. The next step beyond computer technology, could involve DNA type tech.

 

If we imagine the structure of simulations within simulations as an inverted pyramid.

 

The base reality is the point at the bottom of the inverted pyramid.

 

Above the single point is a larger area of pyramid, representing the larger number of first level simulations.

 

Above that is an even larger area representing the second level simulations, and so on.

 

To explain, If we were base reality, then the first level simulations are all the simulations made in our reality, like computer games etc. The second level simulations are games made within the games, or simulations within the simulations.

 

This can continue as far as you can imagine, and probably further.

 

What is being suggested is that (probability-wise) we are NOT base reality. We are instead one of the many level simulations above that.

 

If we imagine that we are a level one simulation.

 

Then as a level One, It should be relatively easy to create a (level Two) simulation and then climb into it. As in, become one of the characters. That’s how most games are done now, we take the role of a character.

 

This question asks, can we go the other way? Down towards the bottom point of the pyramid.

 

To do this would first involve a number of steps:

 

1. accept the possibility that we might not be at the bottom point.

 

2. understand why we are being simulated,

 

3. understand how our simulation level is different from its creators level.

 

4. see into, or detect data from, the base level.

 

and finally,

 

5. sample our memories, thought processes, and personalities, and,

 

6. find a way to reproduce them in a format compatible with the lower or base level reality.

 

We are not quite there yet.

 

So, is it possible now? No.

 

Is it ever likely to be possible? Possibly.

 

 

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Can we predict the end of our simulation?

 

If we calculated the computing power required to simulate the universe as we know it… able to simulate the detail as we can see it at the moment.

 

Then if we took the best present day computing power, capable of the best simulation game…

 

Then we applied Moore’s law, which doubles the computing power every two years. We should be able to predict the year in which mankind of the future could simulate mankind’s world of the now.

 

Therefore, we could, if we assume that we are living in a simulation, and that the simulation was for a purpose, and that purpose was for future mankind to learn how they got to where they are… (or even to avoid where they are)… 
we could calculate when our simulation might be shut down… 

Since a future mankind would most likely run its simulation only until it had achieved its purpose… or obviously wasn’t going to.

 

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Is there a religion based on the idea that the universe is a simulation?

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Without having given this much thought… as yet…

Surely ALL religions are based on the idea that everything is a simulation.

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They just don’t realise it.

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Any religion that believes that God created the universe, then placed man in it… must believe that the universe was created in the same way that a simulation would be.

 

There is no other way that a universe could be created.