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I wish most of the people who talk about the Simulation Argument understood this. There is not even a reason to believe that the "outer universe" has such thin

by jblow 10y ago

I wish most of the people who talk about the Simulation Argument understood this. There is not even a reason to believe that the "outer universe" has such things as space and time or information as we know it, and no way to know what a "computation" might comprise in such a situation. Maybe the situation is not that pessimal, and an outer universe is much like ours, but to prefer that believe one would need evidence, of which we have none.

inimino 10y ago
The range of possible universes is much more broad than we can imagine. Even so, some people have imagined much further than most, through practice or some natural tendency. Our intuitions developed to fit the universe we are in. Getting beyond that is difficult and not many even try.
monktastic1 10y ago
Various eastern philosophies have a somewhat different solution to this whole problem. Consciousness -- as in the sheer fact of experience -- is itself the base "reality," out of which everything is made. If you examine everything you're calling "the universe," all you will ever discover is sights, sounds, thoughts about sights and sounds, belief (or certainty) that those sights and sounds are caused by something external, etc. What are all of those made of? Consciousness, of course. In this reality, "brains" are the entities that consciousness has dreamed up to demonstrate correlations with conscious properties. In our reality, we therefore say that "the brain causes consciousness." If you investigate your experience closely, you'll discover that the epiphanies "I exist," "I am conscious," "I am alive", "a world exists" all point to the same ineffable "miracle" of existence, the one "substance" of which all realities are made. Upon hearing this, perhaps the mind thinks "just as there are realities that exist without time and space, why can't there be some without consciousness?" There's a very interesting answer to that question, but it won't come in the form of thoughts. Of course, there's no reason to believe any of that. On the other hand, as the Buddha said, don't believe me....

by jblow 10y ago

inimino 10y ago

The range of possible universes is much more broad than we can imagine. Even so, some people have imagined much further than most, through practice or some natural tendency. Our intuitions developed to fit the universe we are in. Getting beyond that is difficult and not many even try.

monktastic1 10y ago

Various eastern philosophies have a somewhat different solution to this whole problem. Consciousness -- as in the sheer fact of experience -- is itself the base "reality," out of which everything is made. If you examine everything you're calling "the universe," all you will ever discover is sights, sounds, thoughts about sights and sounds, belief (or certainty) that those sights and sounds are caused by something external, etc. What are all of those made of? Consciousness, of course. In this reality, "brains" are the entities that consciousness has dreamed up to demonstrate correlations with conscious properties. In our reality, we therefore say that "the brain causes consciousness." If you investigate your experience closely, you'll discover that the epiphanies "I exist," "I am conscious," "I am alive", "a world exists" all point to the same ineffable "miracle" of existence, the one "substance" of which all realities are made. Upon hearing this, perhaps the mind thinks "just as there are realities that exist without time and space, why can't there be some without consciousness?" There's a very interesting answer to that question, but it won't come in the form of thoughts. Of course, there's no reason to believe any of that. On the other hand, as the Buddha said, don't believe me....