It's not about simulation theory as in "we are living in a simulation," but about consciousness. My reasoning goes like this: - 'A' is a computing entity and a

It's not about simulation theory as in "we are living in a simulation," but about consciousness. My reasoning goes like this: - 'A' is a computing entity and an organism: it takes information in, it reacts. Its genes use those two functions to ensure survival. Note that A doesn't need to be conscious. - As environmental complexity raises, A must collaborate with other members of its own species (most likely, the same genes control the hardware) or of other species. Let's say B. - Evolution gives A the capability of partially simulating B ("other"), so that they can negotiate. Evolution also gives them the capability to communicate. Communication happens between members of the same species because they share the same set of genes. If B survives, the genes of A survive, even if A itself doesn't (abnegation). - The capabilities are somewhat loose. For example, there is not a restriction that A must be different from B. If A can simulate B/other, it an also simulate with B/other=A. The trick is very useful to strategize interaction ("plan"), and to cope with bigger groups. That process where our brains diverge and simulate an interior dialogue is what we perceive as consciousness. For example, as I write and edit this post, I'm actively imagining ('simulating') how peers from my species will interpret it, and my sentences are changing so that they are decoded by the path of least resistance in the reader, thus advancing my goals (actually my genes'). So, consciousness is an illusion that we can't escape in speech[^1], discourse or logic. It is what we are. And it is tremendously useful, because it allows us to "edit our future" to a great extent, with the implication that by doing so, we increase the chances of own survival or, if that's not possible, of our genes' survival. Now, that component is missing from our current AI iteration. Put simply, our artilects don't run continuously and don't have genes commanding them. They don't have an endocrine and nervous system constantly producing overriding signals ("hunger", "pain", "lust", "do so that the group survives") that must be rationalized a-posteriori to the point of forming entire cultures. The thing is, we could engineer entirely artificial replacements of those things, and with a bit of fussing, we would replicate the illusion of consciousness. But the idea of doing that and also binding our creations to do useful work is simply repulsive to me (edit: my genes are providing an overriding signal saying that, creating a being with the potential to inflict damage on me and my group (read: them the genes), is something that only deleterious members of the species would do, and that at the very least, dissuasive action should be taken). [^1]: We can shut it down however, it's not inherent. We routinely do when we sleep, and sometimes when we do something that requires more of our lower brain, for example doing intense physical exercise or having sex.