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Our observable universe is just a zany snowglobe knick-knack picked up as a last minute gift for a spoiled little shit in a universe of higher order than ours t

by s5300 5y ago

Our observable universe is just a zany snowglobe knick-knack picked up as a last minute gift for a spoiled little shit in a universe of higher order than ours that's simply imperceivable to us. All of what we know as mass in our universe was suspended in a tiny bowl centered in the globe, the kid gave it one shake, ala the big bang, then sat it on a shelf forever to collect dust as we near unmeasurably slowly eject towards the edges of the globe. Maybe one day he'll pick us back up...

xvector 5y ago
Implies that the theoretical ability to simulate a universe (or even just a planet) exists somewhere, which absolutely might not be the case
- new_guy 5y ago
  No Mans Sky does it pretty well. Who knows? Maybe when we get up to PlayStation 10 or 20 it'll actually be simulating the cognitive/sentient elements of the universe too.
  - hutzlibu 5y ago
    Doing something "pretty well" compared to the task and doing something complete, is not really the same, when we are talking about a possible infinite universe to simulate. Because in this case, even just correctly simulating the leave of an tree, would take infinite comouters.
    - xvector 5y ago
      You could simply alter the consciousness of simulated beings to believe that the tree is complex and exists fully. This sort of dynamic pruning/altering of conscious reality would dramatically cut down on what needs to be simulated. We could all be staring at placeholders (if even that) while believing we are interacting with a complex, fully defined world - in the meantime, the simulation modifies our consciousness(es) to smooth over any gaps in what could actually be a crudely defined generative world.
      - imtringued 5y ago
        > You could simply alter the consciousness of simulated beings to believe that the tree is complex and exists fully. This sort of dynamic pruning/altering of conscious reality would dramatically cut down on what needs to be simulated. You mean a text adventure?
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    Sometimes when I play No Man’s Sky, I hope I’ll come across a single planet that has culture/cities. A quirk in the simulation that gave rise to it. Much like our lonely little blue planet. Or maybe I just smoke too much.
  - imtringued 5y ago
    I don't know why everyone insists on No Mans Sky. Having a space engineers MMO with thousands of players would be way more interesting. If every player builds 5 autonomous vehicles then the game would have simulate 5000 vehicles 24/7.
romesmoke 5y ago
I don't get why this comment has been downvoted. Isn't pessimist poetry allowed on HN?
caf 5y ago
That doesn't accord with what we observe in the universe - not expansion outward from a central point, but expansion everywhere as everything moves away from everything else.
imtringued 5y ago
That may be true but it doesn't change that we are trapped in bodies that evolved to survive in the universe created by that kid.

by s5300 5y ago

xvector 5y ago

Implies that the theoretical ability to simulate a universe (or even just a planet) exists somewhere, which absolutely might not be the case

new_guy 5y ago
No Mans Sky does it pretty well. Who knows? Maybe when we get up to PlayStation 10 or 20 it'll actually be simulating the cognitive/sentient elements of the universe too.
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  Doing something "pretty well" compared to the task and doing something complete, is not really the same, when we are talking about a possible infinite universe to simulate. Because in this case, even just correctly simulating the leave of an tree, would take infinite comouters.
  - xvector 5y ago
    You could simply alter the consciousness of simulated beings to believe that the tree is complex and exists fully. This sort of dynamic pruning/altering of conscious reality would dramatically cut down on what needs to be simulated. We could all be staring at placeholders (if even that) while believing we are interacting with a complex, fully defined world - in the meantime, the simulation modifies our consciousness(es) to smooth over any gaps in what could actually be a crudely defined generative world.
    - imtringued 5y ago
      > You could simply alter the consciousness of simulated beings to believe that the tree is complex and exists fully. This sort of dynamic pruning/altering of conscious reality would dramatically cut down on what needs to be simulated. You mean a text adventure?
- withinboredom 5y ago
  Sometimes when I play No Man’s Sky, I hope I’ll come across a single planet that has culture/cities. A quirk in the simulation that gave rise to it. Much like our lonely little blue planet. Or maybe I just smoke too much.
- imtringued 5y ago
  I don't know why everyone insists on No Mans Sky. Having a space engineers MMO with thousands of players would be way more interesting. If every player builds 5 autonomous vehicles then the game would have simulate 5000 vehicles 24/7.

romesmoke 5y ago

I don't get why this comment has been downvoted. Isn't pessimist poetry allowed on HN?

caf 5y ago

That doesn't accord with what we observe in the universe - not expansion outward from a central point, but expansion everywhere as everything moves away from everything else.

imtringued 5y ago

That may be true but it doesn't change that we are trapped in bodies that evolved to survive in the universe created by that kid.