Are we in a computer simulation?

[Wicket]

http://www.nasca.org.uk/Ancestor/ancestor.html

I know some of these ideas were covered in the Matrix but looking at this link it doesn't seem all that unrealistic perhaps? Or at least no more unrealistic than other ideas put forward as to why we are here.

Some say the light people see when they 'die' is the computer simulation fading, or something along those lines.

[Old Mike]

It is certainly possible that we are part of a computer simulation.
Running such a simulation does not necessarily mean that one has to have millions or billions of “individuals.”
Consider the Six Degrees of Separation
Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person he or she knows and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth.
This would work well if there were , in fact, only a few thousand “individuals”, and the rest just more or less incomplete shells.

[Wicket]

Interesting stuff. Also as it says in the link, we can't as yet go very far from our planet into the 'universe'. This means less 'power' is needed than otherwise.

If this was the case wouldn't our creators do things that were a bit more dramatic? Like making a talking pink handbag appear in the middle of New York City? Or generally do stuff to set the cat amongst the pigeons?

The article says wars etc may be a way of livening things up for those running the sim? Surely though if that were the case they wouldn't be largely concentrated in certain areas?

[Lili Von Shtupp]

What makes you think that something we don't already take for granted isn't a big pink handbag, so to speak? Something has to account for the platypus.

I'm tempted to think that, rather than being for amusement, we could be one of many experimental simulations where different sets of variables are entered, into which the "civilization" scenario is run, and then observed to discover the evolution and final outcome.

Our alter-simulations could live in more or less hostile environments in varying ways as part of the experiment.

[Wicket]

Lili, I think your idea that we are an 'experiment' makes more sense than a simulation run for fun.

It is possible that at basement level you have the 'Gods' who ran the initial sim and then a few sims themselves have set up sims. Make sense?

A computer has cookies etc and programmes that run independently from it I suppose. (Not at all computer literature but hopefully you'll know what I mean)!

It might explain a few things like gravity being such a weak force when it 'should' be stronger etc.

Opens up all sorts of possibilities about a possible after life too. Can't believe I haven't thought along these lines before...

[Wicket]

A few things:

If we are in a simulation why would we 'die' and age? (Although if we are part of an evolution type experiment simulation I can sort of see why).

Wouldn't it be tempting to interfere? (That Smith family have had a tough year, I'll give them a break. Or I'll grant world peace on a grander scheme). Surely it must be possible to intervene if you wanted to? (Even if this went against the original purpose). I suppose that presumes the 'creators' are 'ethical' though??

I suppose it is possible that there are a huge number of simulations running at once?

Wouldn't it be tempting to let the sims know they were in fact part of a simulation? Or perhaps that is what happens after 'death'?

Would the simulation likely be built to replicate what was in the creators 'world'?

Surely we could spot some glitch/inconsistency in the 'programme' if we were in a simulation? What sort of things might they be that we already experience?

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Our genetic makeup could be part of the variables entered in the sim. A scientist who was merely interested in results and outcomes wouldn't be tempted to interfere. There could be a sim where one of the variables is to let the humans know that they are sims.

What sort of glitches might they be that we already experience? Deja vu? Near death experience? Supposed paranormal occurrences? That feeling when you're drifting off to sleep and you dream you're running and then you suddenly trip over a crub and wake up with a start? 

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Who put that crub there anyway?

[Wicket]

I suppose that it is possible sims create their own sims and so on if they became 'advanced' enough? This would mean that there could be an original 'God' figure?

Interesting re: glitches. I sometimes get a sort of black and white fuzziness that disappears when I wake (like an untuned TV channel). How would deju vu be a 'glitch'? I get this quite often but less so as I get older (in that I get a strong sense I have been in an exact situation before). Would that suggest that the same 'programme' runs and runs to get alternative outcomes?

Also it is quite difficult to imagine certain concepts (perhaps we are not meant to go there)?

Would there be other people (not scientists) part of this advanced civilisation who might support intervetion if suffering was too great for the sims?

If they pulled the plug or data was going slow/hung how might this manifest itself?

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Who cares if sims suffer? Maybe their goal is to measure how many ways we can destroy ourselves and our civilization? If we make it to the point where we can create our own sims, maybe the big scientists in the sky will pop open a bottle of bubbly and take notes of the variables that allowed our particular civilization to advance to that stage without destroying itself.

Then they'll get real high in the lab, and while the project leader photocopies his butt, the new guy will trip over the power cord before anybody has a chance to save the data. All us poor b*stards in the sim will be obliterated, and they'll have to start over. Would there be an afterlife for us here in the sim? A whiff of cosmic aftersmell? Divine 0s and 1s? Nah, probably just another fried harddisk in the bin. Right, back to Sim Lim...

[Old Mike]

As for glitches, bugs etc, I suppose that the game is saved regularly, so if things go wrong the gamers simply revert to the last saved game, and we, the sims, would know nothing about it.
The idea of experiment seems the most logical. Once the simulation is set up you could test anything from the effects of a nuclear war to a marketing campaign for mayonnaise.
The gamers would not care how much the sims suffered. Why should they, the sims are not real? This would explain all the suffering. At the same time, it could be fun to perform miracles, and there is certainly a very wide belief in them.

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

As for glitches, bugs etc, I suppose that the game is saved regularly, so if things go wrong the gamers simply revert to the last saved game, and we, the sims, would know nothing about it.

Yes. Jesus saves...

[Lili Von Shtupp]

As for glitches, bugs etc, I suppose that the game is saved regularly, so if things go wrong the gamers simply revert to the last saved game, and we, the sims, would know nothing about it.

Yes. Jesus saves...

ROTFLMAO! Nice one, Wrath.

[Wicket]

Yes, The Sims are not real but their feelings/suffering are very real to them, their 'creators' must surely be aware of that (but perhaps view totally coldly as scientific experiment)?

I wonder if 'Jesus' was from the 'real world' and took pity on the Sims and visited & tried to advise behaviour that would stand them in good stead? Ditto, other 'prophets'? (Well it's another theory  ).

The Sims theory does not explain who created those who created the Sims either.

[porushh]

I think the Matrix was inspired by ancient Indian philosophy.
Vedantic teaching says that the world is an "illusion" and
when one discovers the "reality" one progresses to the stage
when one can control anything (like the bullets in the movie).

What you guys are thinking of, the world being a computer simualation, is based on your knowledge of computers and
modern technology. But thousands of years ago, Indian
philosophers had already developed this advanced concept
of everything being unreal and just a dream. When the mind
realizes the reality, it realizes that everything is one
reality with different vibrations - which is also said today by qunatum physics. That reality exists in the universe and is outside
it as well. That reality is God. Read the Vedanta.