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For example, we could ask whether anything that we think of as "existing" would be missed by simulating the equations of physics with the empirical starting con

For example, we could ask whether anything that we think of as "existing" would be missed by simulating the equations of physics with the empirical starting conditions of our universe. There are real limits in what humans know about the universe. But it's possible in theory that everything that is "real" follows from some differential equations.

the_af 3y ago
In theory, maybe. I don't think our models of the universe are anything other than imperfect but useful approximations though. Could your question be rephrased as "take the real world, with its things we don't have an accurate model of (which is most of them). Would we notice if we replaced this universe by a tidier one, perfectly described by a math model?". It's an interesting, scifi question alright. I don't know if it has an answer.