Are we living in a virtual reality?

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Kim O'Hara
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Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

...Chalmers argues that we could already be inhabitants of a virtual reality: “We can never prove we’re not in a computer simulation because any evidence of ordinary reality could be simulated.”

This is known as the simulation hypothesis, the scenario that is explored in the recently released Matrix Resurrections. Chalmers points out that humans have already invented games that simulate real life, such as The Sims. These will become more sophisticated over time, with versions of them running on millions of devices. Furthermore, out there in the rest of the universe, “if any aliens have human-level intelligence, they should eventually develop computers and program them. If these alien civilisations survive long enough, they’ll likely create simulated universes.” Statistically speaking, that means simulated beings probably already vastly outnumber “real” ones. In other words, it’s more likely we’re living in a simulation than in the original version of our world. ...

Ultimately, Reality+ is about extending our sense of the real. Chalmers’s central idea, that “there is more to reality than we thought”, is seductive, and I was surprised to find his arguments delightfully – or perhaps worryingly – convincing.

He has taken a subject most people would dismiss as pure science fiction and produced a brilliant and very readable philosophical investigation.
This is the David Chalmers who defined the 'hard problem' of consciousness so we should take him (at least a little :smile: ) seriously. His new book Reality+ is reviewed here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/ ... simulation.

:reading:
Kim
Archie2009
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by Archie2009 »

So tiring. The Sims have rigpa now? Bet he hasn't red pilled on rigpa yet, so what does he know? The rabbit hole of intellectual arrogance.

:zzz:
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

There is no reason to draw the conclusion that in the entire universe, that “Statistically speaking, that means simulated beings probably already vastly outnumber “real” ones.”.

From a Buddhist point of view, however, yes, each of us only experiences a kind of virtual reality, not one created by computers, but by our own minds based on our limited perceptions and filtered through the kleshas. Ours is experience is defined as the human realm.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Malcolm
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by Malcolm »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 11:34 am
...Chalmers argues that we could already be inhabitants of a virtual reality: “We can never prove we’re not in a computer simulation because any evidence of ordinary reality could be simulated.”

This is known as the simulation hypothesis, the scenario that is explored in the recently released Matrix Resurrections. Chalmers points out that humans have already invented games that simulate real life, such as The Sims. These will become more sophisticated over time, with versions of them running on millions of devices. Furthermore, out there in the rest of the universe, “if any aliens have human-level intelligence, they should eventually develop computers and program them. If these alien civilisations survive long enough, they’ll likely create simulated universes.” Statistically speaking, that means simulated beings probably already vastly outnumber “real” ones. In other words, it’s more likely we’re living in a simulation than in the original version of our world. ...

Ultimately, Reality+ is about extending our sense of the real. Chalmers’s central idea, that “there is more to reality than we thought”, is seductive, and I was surprised to find his arguments delightfully – or perhaps worryingly – convincing.

He has taken a subject most people would dismiss as pure science fiction and produced a brilliant and very readable philosophical investigation.
This is the David Chalmers who defined the 'hard problem' of consciousness so we should take him (at least a little :smile: ) seriously. His new book Reality+ is reviewed here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/ ... simulation.

:reading:
Kim
This is just a variation of Descarte's demon:
And yet firmly rooted in my mind is the long-standing opinion that there is an omnipotent God who made me the kind of creature that I am. How do I know that he has not brought it about that there is no earth, no sky, no extended thing, no shape, no size, no place, while at the same time ensuring that all these things appear to me to exist just as they do now?...I will suppose therefore that not God, who is supremely good and the source of truth, but rather some malicious demon [mauvais génie] of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/desc ... ilGeniDoub
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Right? I was gonna say we learned about that ish in my high school classes, guess everything gets recycled.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:26 pm Right? I was gonna say we learned about that ish in my high school classes, guess everything gets recycled.
Sure, everything comes back - but a little differently each time.

:coffee:
Kim
PeterC
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Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?

Post by PeterC »

This is the 'evil operator' or 'brain in a vat' thought experiment. Nothing new, features significantly in epistemology. Put simply, we cannot know that we aren't disembodied brains in vats being manipulated by some evil scientist with drugs, electrodes, such that we experience an elaborate fantasy which is our 'reality'. It is essentially an argument for skepticism. There are various standard arguments for and against.

As is often the case, Wittgenstein had the best generic response:

"6.51 Skepticism is not irrefutable, but obviously nonsensical, when it tries to raise doubts where no questions can be asked.
For doubt can exist only where a question can exist, a question only where an answer exists, and an answer only where something can be said.
6.52 We feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered, the problems of life remain completely untouched. Of course there are then no questions left, and this itself is the answer."
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