I get what a simulation is, at least in the very literal sense. What I’m experiencing feels like reality, it would have to, it’s all any of us have ever known. But what would it mean for us if we truly lived in a simulation? Can it just be turned off and we cease to exist? If we found out we did live in one, how could it change our reality? How do we even hypothesize such a thing? I have zero background in physics just so we’re at an understanding of my physics understanding.
In: 794
It means that your consciousness is a computation. It’s as if you are playing a hyper-advanced version of minecraft, and your consciousness is entirely inside a computer of some sort.
One property of a simulation is that if it was turned off for eons, then switched back on, you would not know anything had happened.
Did you watch the why files episode about this?
[removed]
Here’s my understanding:
If the universe is infinite, then an infinite number of things exist, an infinite number of times including you and your reality. To clarify, that would mean there are infinite variations of you and your world, you are just one of those versions.
What are the implications of this info? I think this is up to you more than anything. For me, it means a few things:
* When I feel bad I zoom out and realize how insignificant the “bad” situation is in this infinite reality, and so I am more accepting of all outcomes
* A personal belief is that if I place my focus on a particular version of me, then I start becoming that version of me, so I feel calm knowing I can head in a particular direction regardless of circumstances
* Paradoxically, the fact that this is a simulation means I have no control of the material world. The simulation is playing out as it is designed to. What I do control however is how I react to it. Think of it like you’re watching a movie in first person but you’re also feeling the senses of the main character in the movie. You don’t control what they do, but you do have control over how you react. In this sense, you can learn to accept all things.
I hope that made sense.
This is mostly speculative philosophy that some physicists have made. You can sort of take it seriously but there is no serious research or study behind it (as it is scientifically unfalsifiable). There is also absolutely no real “meaning” to this idea.
The claim (ELI5) is that we (as in this entire universe) could be a simulation. Everyone interacts with the universe through their senses – this is how we perceive reality. Behind this idea is the musing that (given some rather broad assumptions) on likelihoods. Given all the things that we believe make up the universe, all the events that precede us, all the coincidences etc, is it more likely that all those things happened by some random chance to result in where we are today. OR is it more likely that the “you” is simply a simulated being in a simulated environment.
This is COMPLETELY impossible to prove or obtain evidence one way or the other. In that sense, it is simply unscientific and unrelated to the actual practice of physics.
It’s similar to how people used to say that fire could be classified as living.
There are a set of criteria for defining what a simulation is. Stretching the definition a bit, the universe as we know it fits into those criteria. Arguably, you could interpret this as the universe being a simulation, but like most similar philosophical oddities, it’s more accurate to say that our definitions are flawed than to actually seriously believe we’re just nth dimensional Sims. It’s a fun or interesting thought experiment **taken too literally by people outside the field**.
The idea that we live in a simulation is not falsifiable, (there’s no way to definitively prove it one way or another, at least not without exiting the simulation) so it’s really more the realm of philosophy rather than physics. If we are in a simulation, we would have no way of knowing what the outside world is like, so there are countless different interpretations of the theory. If you’ve seen the matrix, that’s one interpretation. Inception is another, and so is the arcade game, “Roy” from Rick and Morty.
In general, the theory is meant to point out the fact that we have no actual basis for determining what is real and what is fabricated. Everything we know about the world is based on our experience, but our experience itself is unreliable. It brings up interesting philosophical questions like why do we feel like the things that we do in real life matter more than things we do inside video games, if “real” life could just be a simulation too for all we know.
There’s a pretty simple justification for thinking it’s at least possible. **IF** an intelligent species can simulate minds **AND** there’s some reason to run such simulations, **THEN** there would be many simulations and only **ONE** true reality. Given those facts, we’re probably not the one true reality (cuz there’s only one).
Of course, it depends heavily on the IF part. We don’t know if it’s possible or if there is any reason to want do it. There is no evidence, yet, that it is (or isn’t) true. If it was true, there would be little-to-no practical impact on you, specifically. It’s not like we comprehend what we’re missing out on. maybe it’s a little scary to think we exist at the whim of some person simulating us, but I don’t personally see how it is any different than the normal existential dread of being a tiny, insignificant mind that will one day disappear into nothingness and it could happen anytime from random accidents.
They mean despite the fact that we are all “experiencing” reality there’s no way to prove without a doubt that our reality is real. we could be a video game for some kid and we wouldn’t even notice when it got turned off and on or for how long, or if he reverted a save point we wouldn’t even notice that time rewound because our memory starts from that moment again.
FURTHERMORE, there’s no way to prove that you aren’t the only conscious person in the whole universe and everyone else are just a program.
The only thing you can do is keep living as if it’s all real, BECAUSE that’s all you have or ever will know.
It is a philosophical question.
The famous movie “The Matrix” was inspired by the philosopher Baudrillard and his idea of Simulation and Simulacra ([brief scene where the book is shown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6R94keJcHk))
So what did Baudrillard say?
He had the idea that everything in the world, everything that we experience is part of a simulation. There is a simulacra (things that are being represented) and simulation is the process.
A very simple example – a kid doesn’t want to go to school so he fakes a fever. The simulacra would be the ilness/fever (because he is not actually sick) and the simulation would be the method to achieve, say putting the thermometer into tea, pretending to be very tired etc…
This idea is applied to everything. The Cold War was a simulation – the actual underlying real threat (nuclear wipeout) never happened but there was a simulation – proxy wars, etc.
Any of the proxy wars are also a simulation. Most USA citizens did not feel the reality of those wars. They saw a simulation through media etc etc, of what is happening.
All of this was to say – there is no need to talk about any underlying reality. Because people live in this world through a simulation. (This was very different at the time, because a lot of philosophy was still based on seeking out the truth, seeking out what is reality, etc. and Baudrillard basically said – why? The world runs as a simulation.
Latest Answers