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A sufficiently realistic physics simulation would eventually evolve life, otherwise it wouldn't be very realistic. Simulating an entire universe as a roundabout
by actsasbuffoon 13y ago
A sufficiently realistic physics simulation would eventually evolve life, otherwise it wouldn't be very realistic. Simulating an entire universe as a roundabout way of simulating consciousness is probably the least efficient way to accomplish it, but it shows that it should be possible. Now we're just talking about a question of optimization; how can we simulate a single consciousness without also simulating a world around it.
- eevilspock 13y agoThe simulator has to be "larger" than the simulation by definition, so you can't simulate the universe. You don't need to understand information theory to see this.
- actsasbuffoon 13y agoI understand that quite well, but your statement only applies to a perfect simulation of a universe of roughly equivalent information density. Simulating a smaller universe or excluding details which have little impact on the outcome are both reasonable ways around the problem. This entire thing is a digression anyway, as I was attempting to illustrate that a computer can most certainly simulate consciousness, not trying to start a discussion about the feasability of building a complete simulation of our entire universe.