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> No way. What if those beings considered the simulation tainted and shut it down as a result? That's just as plausible as those beings waiting for us to evolv

> No way. What if those beings considered the simulation tainted and shut it down as a result? That's just as plausible as those beings waiting for us to evolve our present level of understanding, and shutting down the simulation out of disappointment that we didn't try to contact them, or hack our way out of it. This whole discussion - not just the one we're having, but probably most discussions on this topic, here on HN and elsewhere - is the nerd equivalent of trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

rightbyte 3y ago
> trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin Wasn't that a parady of silly theological questions in general? Or maybe a "it doesn't matter" analogy? The nerd discussion on this sim question is totally serious. Edit: Oh. Ye. There is no upper limit on the size of a needle, so there is no upper limit on the amount of angles that can dance on its tip no matter their size, if they can intersect or what not. Anyhow, at least one, should cover any set of boundary values to the problem.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  > The nerd discussion on this sim question is totally serious. Yes, but just as likely to result in a useful outcome as trying to count angels. What I'm trying to say is that unless someone in this discussion is maybe a high-energy particle physicist, or astrophysicist, all we're really doing is the equivalent of trying to deduce what happened to the Holy Prepuce, or what Hermione Granger's canonical ethnicity is. Which isn't to say that it's not a fun thing to talk about; but we should recognize that we're just sitting around the fire with a couple of beers and bullshitting, and that we can't make any really definitive statements here. We're at the Greek Philosophy level of being able to talk about this stuff - all thought experiments without much actual data.

rightbyte 3y ago

> trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin Wasn't that a parady of silly theological questions in general? Or maybe a "it doesn't matter" analogy? The nerd discussion on this sim question is totally serious. Edit: Oh. Ye. There is no upper limit on the size of a needle, so there is no upper limit on the amount of angles that can dance on its tip no matter their size, if they can intersect or what not. Anyhow, at least one, should cover any set of boundary values to the problem.

pavel_lishin 3y ago
> The nerd discussion on this sim question is totally serious. Yes, but just as likely to result in a useful outcome as trying to count angels. What I'm trying to say is that unless someone in this discussion is maybe a high-energy particle physicist, or astrophysicist, all we're really doing is the equivalent of trying to deduce what happened to the Holy Prepuce, or what Hermione Granger's canonical ethnicity is. Which isn't to say that it's not a fun thing to talk about; but we should recognize that we're just sitting around the fire with a couple of beers and bullshitting, and that we can't make any really definitive statements here. We're at the Greek Philosophy level of being able to talk about this stuff - all thought experiments without much actual data.