Comments on: Are we living in a computer simulation? https://habitablezone.com/2019/08/12/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2019/08/12/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/#comment-43478 ER Mon, 12 Aug 2019 21:01:40 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=77837#comment-43478 It acts a lot more like a simulation than it does an artifact (the alternative theory, that a godlike intelligence created it just to see how it all turns out). In a simulation, you propose certain initial conditions (the laws of physics and some reasonable values for some key physical constants) and let it run to completion. If it winds up in a contradiction, or goes out of control, or seizes up, you change the initial conditions and resubmit the job, to see how it works THIS time. Any programmer has seen that scenario countless times. Actually, the only difference between an artifact and a simulation is that the simulation is a software program running on some kind of cyber platform, while the artifact is actually a physical prototype, more like a mock-up or test bed. In fact, this is even hinted at in our own religious texts--God decides to destroy the world but Noah convinces him to push the re-start button and try it again by searching for a righteous man. The story of Job is very similar, the devil convinces God to test a truly righteous man--to destruction. The observable universe may very well be a simulation, one of an infinite number of sims running on a giant processor(s) somewhere, tuning up the parameters until they get them just right. Of course, even if it is, and if we replace God with some non-divine but still highly capable programming staff, we still haven't answered the Big Question: What does it all mean? Like the existence of God, we still haven't answered the question. All we've done is postpone the answer. Turtles all the way down. My friend Tim once speculated about this very topic. <em>"What if the Universe is just a science project in God School?"</em> Of course, Tim was very good with philosophical issues. Once, stoned fuckless on some very righteous Jamaican while watching Star Trek, I asked him; <em>"If you were Captain of a starship and saw God through the porthole, what would you do?"</em> He thought about it for a while and then answered, without hesitation; <em>"I'd send the crew to General Quarters".</em> It acts a lot more like a simulation than it does an artifact (the alternative theory, that a godlike intelligence created it just to see how it all turns out). In a simulation, you propose certain initial conditions (the laws of physics and some reasonable values for some key physical constants) and let it run to completion. If it winds up in a contradiction, or goes out of control, or seizes up, you change the initial conditions and resubmit the job, to see how it works THIS time. Any programmer has seen that scenario countless times.

Actually, the only difference between an artifact and a simulation is that the simulation is a software program running on some kind of cyber platform, while the artifact is actually a physical prototype, more like a mock-up or test bed. In fact, this is even hinted at in our own religious texts–God decides to destroy the world but Noah convinces him to push the re-start button and try it again by searching for a righteous man. The story of Job is very similar, the devil convinces God to test a truly righteous man–to destruction.

The observable universe may very well be a simulation, one of an infinite number of sims running on a giant processor(s) somewhere, tuning up the parameters until they get them just right. Of course, even if it is, and if we replace God with some non-divine but still highly capable programming staff, we still haven’t answered the Big Question: What does it all mean? Like the existence of God, we still haven’t answered the question. All we’ve done is postpone the answer. Turtles all the way down.

My friend Tim once speculated about this very topic. “What if the Universe is just a science project in God School?” Of course, Tim was very good with philosophical issues. Once, stoned fuckless on some very righteous Jamaican while watching Star Trek, I asked him; “If you were Captain of a starship and saw God through the porthole, what would you do?” He thought about it for a while and then answered, without hesitation; “I’d send the crew to General Quarters”.

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