4 ms·

I have to assume this has been well trod elsewhere, but nothing that I've seen, and this is the second or third recent HN article about the whole "maybe we're i

by cagenut 10y ago

I have to assume this has been well trod elsewhere, but nothing that I've seen, and this is the second or third recent HN article about the whole "maybe we're in a simulation" thing, so I'm going to ask in good faith: How is this not just... religion?

ZeroFries 10y ago
If its a falsifiable claim its not religion. Supposedly its a falsifiable claim.
- beefield 10y ago
  How do you think that could be falsified? (Honest question, I have tried to come up with a way to falsify this theory, but haven't figured out anythig.)
  - visarga 10y ago
    But what is the difference between being in a simulation of reality and being in reality? Is there any difference?
  - ZeroFries 10y ago
    http://www.ijqf.org/wps/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IJQF-3888.pdf http://www.ijqf.org/wps/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IJQF-3888...
- bad_user 10y ago
  No, it's not falsifiable. Santa Claus is actually more believable since there are many children who can swear they've seen him.
charles-salvia 10y ago
Because the word "religion" has different semantic connotations. Just because I propose a question that has no falsifiable answer does not mean I have suddenly invented a religion. If I start actually marketing my non-falsifiable answers to you, then you could say I am on the road to making it into a religion.
psyc 10y ago
Because it is metaphysics. Philosophy.
noonespecial 10y ago
Its not quite a religion yet. More like just a "faith". I always figured that religion was what happened after a particular metaphysics/philosophy came up with a guess about something unobservable through science and people started taking that guess seriously. It usually takes the form of making up a bunch of rules for everyone to follow to keep from angering a postulated deity, but not always. In this case you can observe this particular "faith" hatching into a minor religion (almost in toy/model style) with Roko's Basilisk. https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk

by cagenut 10y ago

ZeroFries 10y ago

If its a falsifiable claim its not religion. Supposedly its a falsifiable claim.

beefield 10y ago
How do you think that could be falsified? (Honest question, I have tried to come up with a way to falsify this theory, but haven't figured out anythig.)
- visarga 10y ago
  But what is the difference between being in a simulation of reality and being in reality? Is there any difference?
- ZeroFries 10y ago
  http://www.ijqf.org/wps/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IJQF-3888.pdf http://www.ijqf.org/wps/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IJQF-3888...
bad_user 10y ago
No, it's not falsifiable. Santa Claus is actually more believable since there are many children who can swear they've seen him.

charles-salvia 10y ago

Because the word "religion" has different semantic connotations. Just because I propose a question that has no falsifiable answer does not mean I have suddenly invented a religion. If I start actually marketing my non-falsifiable answers to you, then you could say I am on the road to making it into a religion.

psyc 10y ago

Because it is metaphysics. Philosophy.

noonespecial 10y ago

Its not quite a religion yet. More like just a "faith". I always figured that religion was what happened after a particular metaphysics/philosophy came up with a guess about something unobservable through science and people started taking that guess seriously. It usually takes the form of making up a bunch of rules for everyone to follow to keep from angering a postulated deity, but not always. In this case you can observe this particular "faith" hatching into a minor religion (almost in toy/model style) with Roko's Basilisk. https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk