Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Is Our World a Simulation?
Why some scientists say it's more likely than not
by Olivia Solon
The Guardian (10/11/201)

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/11/simulated-world-elon-musk-the-matrix

Take a pill
Choose a reality

But where do we get the pills?

   Post 78. April 11, 2019

  Is Reality a Cosmic Simulation?

   Who was the Programmer?

 I recently came across a YouTube video of a presentation by space scientist Richard Terrile of his theory that our universe is a computer simulation similar to that in the movie The Matrix. This is an idea that dates back at least to the Hindu concept of Maya, and Plato’s parable of The Cave. In the nineteenth century, the Brain In A Vat notion was taken seriously. Near the end of the 20th century, the Matrix movie revived those old mysteries in a wildly popular format. And in the 21st century, physicists are earnestly studying the ghostly notion of a virtual Mathematical Universe. The earlier philosophical theories of Ideality underlying Reality were presented in meta-physical or super-natural terms. But, as a reductive scientist, Terrile seems to prefer a physical and natural interpretation.

The Guardian article says of the TESLA CEO, “Musk is just one of the people in Silicon Valley to take a keen interest in the “simulation hypothesis”, which argues that what we experience as reality is actually a giant computer simulation created by a more sophisticated intelligence. If it sounds a lot like The Matrix, that’s because it is.” That superior intelligence could be some sort of supernatural deity, but “Bostrom suggested that members of an advanced “posthuman” civilization with vast computing power might choose to run simulations of their ancestors in the universe.” These time-traveling super-nerd speculations sound like Ancient Astronaut explanations for myths of gods intervening in the ancient world. But now those ancient aliens are us : “So who has created this simulation? “Our future selves,” said Terrile.”

Modern myths of “posthuman” aliens with god-like powers were popular among some New Age spiritual-but-not-religious folks, who liked the idea of benevolent human-form deities, who didn’t leave behind burdensome lists of “dos & don’ts” or “shalts & shall-nots”. The more recent theories are based on the notion of Virtual Reality computer simulations. But if the whole universe is a simulation, who or what is doing the information processing? If our “fake” reality is the software, is there a “true” reality out there somewhere beyond the veil of illusion? The reductive methods of Science can only analyze the hardware, so it’s left to philosophers and pseudo-scientists to search for the wizard behind the curtain.

Terrile argues that, “Reasons to believe that the universe is a simulation include the fact that it behaves mathematically and is broken up into pieces (subatomic particles) like a pixelated video game.” However, subatomic “particles” are no longer considered to be minuscule specks of matter (pixels on a screen), but merely statistical variations (waves) in a contin-uous field of potential. Those peaks & valleys are indeed equivalent to 1s & 0s of computer logic, but someone or something had to create the logic & language from which our simulated world is computed. So how could our “future selves”, no matter how technologically advanced, create the very foundation of their existence – bootstrapping?

Although I agree that reality may be essentially mathematical, I also think there is something even more fundamental for both reality and ideality. And that is basic existence, as surmised in  Ontology, the science of Being. Which is why the core axiom of my worldview is eternal BEING. 

End of Post 78

Odds of Simulation :

In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed a trilemma that he called "the simulation argument". Despite the name, Bostrom's "simulation argument" does not directly argue that we live in a simulation; instead, Bostrom's trilemma argues that one of three unlikely-seeming propositions is almost certainly true:

 1.   "The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage (that is, one capable of running high-fidelity ancestor simulations) is very close to zero", or

 2.   "The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running simulations of their evolutionary history, or variations thereof, is very close to zero", or

3.    "The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis

Adding zero percent to zero percent, he gets 100%.

Richard Terrile :
“Terrile is a supporter of the simulation hypothesis, the idea that our reality is a computer-generated virtual reality created by unknown programmers”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Terrile

“How do you know that we aren’t just figments of someone’s imagination? NASA scientist Richard Terrile ties together both science and religion in this talk and how there is a possibility that our existence is simply a simulation.” IDEACITY conference 09/23/2016

In his conference talk, Terrile offered his opinion, that the universe “was probably engineered for conscious-ness” I agree, but I would say “programmed for the emergence of conscious beings”

Is this a Designer Universe?

Is our Reality Mathematical?