4 ms·
Since playing No Mans Sky[0] I've thought about this a lot. Basically in the game the universe is a simulation that only has 16 minutes (real time) left to run
by groffee 4y ago
Since playing No Mans Sky[0] I've thought about this a lot.
Basically in the game the universe is a simulation that only has 16 minutes (real time) left to run, but that still translates to billions of years in universe, and the number 16 manifests everywhere as the computer/AI tries to fix itself.
But we have game engines that approximate physics, so if an NPC like Newton were watching he could figure out gravity from the game engine because even though it's not a real thing in the game it's based on our reality, but what if a player opens a portal and steps through and is transported to another universe or solar system?
They could come up with all kinds of convoluted 'physics' to explain it based on what they know of physics based on watching the games engine do its thing.
But this time the physics in universe isn't based on anything 'real', it's just some random code someone like us wrote to teleport players.
If they couldn't find a physics answer they might call it magic.
What if magic in our reality is just rewriting the game engine code in game?
[0] https://www.nomanssky.com/ https://www.nomanssky.com/
- gourabmi 4y agoThis oddly similar to Bhagwad Gita's interpretation of the universe.
- krapp 4y agoOnce I thought about this in the context of those code injection game hacks you sometimes see where people do strange, repetitive actions in-game that wind up writing instructions in RAM and eventually they can bootload Flappy Bird in Super Mario World[0], and how in reality that would look like an arcane ritual. But realistically even if the universe were a simulation of some kind, it would be absurd to think that it was anything akin to a modern computer running a Unity game or something, even though that's where everyone goes because of The Matrix. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0
- bookofjoe 4y agoRelated but far off-topic, in regards to differences in experiencing passing time: the "The Twilight Zone" episode "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," based on Ambrose Bierce's 1890 story of the same name. My heart almost stopped when I saw it on TV when it was broadcast as Episode 22 of the fifth season of "The Twilight Zone" on February 28, 1964. I was 15. Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/542564090 https://vimeo.com/542564090 >ARE YOU LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION? — Nick Bostrom, 1961 https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf https://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf
- kaishiro 4y agoSo funny to see this pop up in this discussion. This is quite possibly my favorite Twilight Zone episode, and it had a similar impact on me upon seeing it (although that wasn't until ~2005 as I was working my way through the series in college). Thanks for the memories.
- bookofjoe 4y agoYou're most welcome. Perhaps in second place: John Lithgow looking out the window during a flight and seeing on the wing... I won't spoil it in case you haven't [yet] seen it.