4 ms·

I enjoy these quasi statistical arguments. Can anyone remind me what is the probability that God exists, or that we live in a computer simulation?

venomsnake 10y ago
God in the religious sense probably does not exist. On the other hand the existance of type II creatures (that can manage and direct the energy of whole galactic clusters) would not surprise me the least. Their interference with human evolution and deeds would not be shocking too. The quantum machanics behave disturbingly close to lazy evaluation - so this would not be surprising too. Everyone of us is a god to a colony of ants.
- amasad 10y ago
  Apparently physicists don't agree with the 'lazy evaluation' analogy. I vaguely remember something about the wave function being continuos and computationally expensive and not really an optimization
qaq 10y ago
Define God?
- givan 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha
Houshalter 10y ago
The probability that God exists depends entirely on your priors. After all we have no observable evidence to consider. I would give it a very low prior, because it's such a weirdly specific belief, considering all the possible origins of the universe. The probability we are in a simulation depends on a bunch of assumptions. Assuming specifically we are asking about a "historical simulation", that the parent universe is identical to ours, we can change the question. Instead ask what is the probability we will someday create historical simulations of our past. Technology certainly seems to advance over time, and the upper limits on computational power are extremely generous. So it's possible we could someday have the technology to do it. Assuming that, then it just depends on the probability you think we will want to make simulated beings. Something about that seems kind of sick and immoral, so I am skeptical of that assumption. But if it is true, then the probability you are in a simulation is extremely high. Because the number of simulated beings could easily be orders of magnitude higher than the number of actual 2016 Earth inhabitants. Provided that many different simulations are run.
noiv 10y ago
Did god invent humans or was it the other way round?
- amasad 10y ago
  See Isaac Asimov's the Last Question for a recursive god human relationship
- throwitaway1 10y ago
  Human did invent the things they believe in. It doesn't matter if the concept of "deity" has some truth or not. Religions have a traceable history, which shows they were entirely man made. No need to prove or disprove that this or that person talked to "angels" since angels don't exist to begin with.Therefore there is no truthful prophet.

venomsnake 10y ago

God in the religious sense probably does not exist. On the other hand the existance of type II creatures (that can manage and direct the energy of whole galactic clusters) would not surprise me the least. Their interference with human evolution and deeds would not be shocking too. The quantum machanics behave disturbingly close to lazy evaluation - so this would not be surprising too. Everyone of us is a god to a colony of ants.

amasad 10y ago
Apparently physicists don't agree with the 'lazy evaluation' analogy. I vaguely remember something about the wave function being continuos and computationally expensive and not really an optimization

qaq 10y ago

Define God?

givan 10y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha

Houshalter 10y ago

The probability that God exists depends entirely on your priors. After all we have no observable evidence to consider. I would give it a very low prior, because it's such a weirdly specific belief, considering all the possible origins of the universe. The probability we are in a simulation depends on a bunch of assumptions. Assuming specifically we are asking about a "historical simulation", that the parent universe is identical to ours, we can change the question. Instead ask what is the probability we will someday create historical simulations of our past. Technology certainly seems to advance over time, and the upper limits on computational power are extremely generous. So it's possible we could someday have the technology to do it. Assuming that, then it just depends on the probability you think we will want to make simulated beings. Something about that seems kind of sick and immoral, so I am skeptical of that assumption. But if it is true, then the probability you are in a simulation is extremely high. Because the number of simulated beings could easily be orders of magnitude higher than the number of actual 2016 Earth inhabitants. Provided that many different simulations are run.

noiv 10y ago

Did god invent humans or was it the other way round?

amasad 10y ago
See Isaac Asimov's the Last Question for a recursive god human relationship
throwitaway1 10y ago
Human did invent the things they believe in. It doesn't matter if the concept of "deity" has some truth or not. Religions have a traceable history, which shows they were entirely man made. No need to prove or disprove that this or that person talked to "angels" since angels don't exist to begin with.Therefore there is no truthful prophet.