Nick Bostrom - Could Our Universe Be a Fake?

[MendicantBias]

It is also possible we are living in a simulation designed to solve a set of problems such traveling faster than light. Our universe is massive and the speed of light still is not fast enough to travel anywhere in a reasonable (human) amount of time. Whomever is running this simulation may find it easier to solve problems by creating simulated realities where those beings inside it are driven to solve that problem for them. Humans use computers to speed up problem solving and it is possible we are being observed as we solve a problem of interest to some other being or beings.

[finalorbit]

This video is lit really well. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

[ammaryohanan]

If we accept that we are a simulation, that still leave us with the old question ?how did the people controlling the simulation came to scene?

[relevants]

Are we live in simulation that is simulated itself and we are talking about this possibility in the multiverse of other simulations? What if general purpose of all multiverses was to make this comment on YT by me?

[mattforrest]

The reason the argument is not compelling is that Bostrom is taking characteristics of this universe to calculate probabilities in a parent universe. Bostrom is looking at the progress of this universe and saying that based upon the trajectory of technological advancement, we are likely to be able to simulate universes (assuming we avoid the first two possibilities). And therefore in THIS universe, eventually it will be more probable for a sentient being to exist in one of our simulations than to be real. Or another way to state it is that it will be more probable for a universe to be simulated than to be real. But IF we are in a simulated universe, there is no reason to assume that a probability calculation based upon the characteristics of this universe would hold for the parent universe. We can know nothing about the characteristics of the parent universe from the characteristics of the simulated universe. So either: 1) we are a real universe and the probability calculation Bostrom is proposing may eventually be valid for sentient beings (real and simulated) in the future where we are running these simulations, or 2) we are a simulated universe and we can say NOTHING about our probability of being simulated or real, because we have no idea what the parent universe is like.

[jean-michelmaujean]

Why would there be a simulation of me looking in my fridge to discover moldy baked beans? Seems like a waste of computer power.

[donrayjay]

“My entire life I’ve been wondering ... [insert a dozen or so different philosophical problems]”

[swapnilkaleatgoogleplus]

What if our minds are just capable of seeing infinitesimal part of the universe with the cognition capability it has..


What if the cognition is different for many other creatures in the universe ?
What if it is brain-wired differently for aliens/other creatures ?


eg - Image a creature who could never see light but might see something else, travel at high speeds (maybe travelled and explored infinite times universe more than us and still left with much more), and many other weird properties, which just looks weird to the human brain..

[GregDoerfler]

Funny, if you ask most people who haven't considered it or heard the argument for it whether we're living in a simulation, they'll say no. But if you ask whether there might be a "real"er reality out there beyond the physical world, beyond what we know and experience, they'll say yes or at least agree it's possible. In a weird way, this illustrates just how irrelevant the question is. Whether we're living in a simulation or base reality, this is the reality we've got...as *primary* and fundamental as you'll ever know, bedrock or not.

[matrox]

What Intel chip version is the creator using to run our sim?

[nicholasrebel]

I love this channel but the audio playback is consistently very poor. In the case of this video I couldn't even hear the audio on my highest volume setting until I used headphones.

[vidul]

I dont agree with this but cant another possibility be that the universe is finite and there is a single universe, in which we are currently the most technologically advanced civilisation or perhaps even the only civilisation?

[couga]

What about the ethics of the simulators ?
After all there is a lot of pain and suffering in this world, simulated or not.
I would expect some pity from such advanced beings.
Lets hope the goal of the simulation worth it.

[brad]

I'd like to see the computers capable of simulating the Universe

[username]

1. Zero evidence to support theory like any religion or "flat Earth"
2. Very shy simulators
3. Very unethical simulation
4. Waste of resources
5. "Moore's law" is a trend not a law may plateau like rocket engine speed
6. Not a new idea. Plato thought its a fresco
7. Whoever created this simulator/world must really like insects, bacteria and rocks.
8. I'd like Mr. Bostrom to show us how he would program so much as a calculator let alone a person.
9. ???

[dancharles]

If we had the technology to run ancestor simulations and did not have any ethical standards, we would do them. We would want to see how history would play out under different circumstances.

[SaccidanandaSadasiva]

I am a poor schizophrenic and I frequently have ideas of Matrix, Truman show, solipsism etc.

[MadderMel]

Did he get the idea from the Matrix ? Or was his idea before the film was released ?

[chrisfloyd]

1. Extinction before capability of creation of simulation 2. Society didn't want to create a simulation. 3. We are the simulation. BUT....as a part of 3 wouldn't there be a real civilization that created the simulations and then also infinite simulations within 3? And so therefore there is 4 scenarios. Didn't survive long enough, didn't want to simulate, wanted to simulate and did, AND a simulation.

[kimrunic]

"Could Our Universe Be a Fake?" It's not fake, it's just not what we thought. It never was.