Physicists To Test If Universe Is A Computer Simulation

ots3go said:
Is it me... or is:

"The theory basically goes that any civilisation which could evolve to a 'post-human' stage would almost certainly learn to run simulations on the scale of a universe. And that given the size of reality - billions of worlds, around billions of suns - it is fairly likely that if this is possible, it has already happened."

So painfully contradictory?
Click to expand...

What it's trying to say is if it's possible to simulate universes, then the vast majority of universes will be simulated ones. Therefore the likelihood that we're in the "top level" universe which isn't simulated is very low.
 
ots3go said:
Is it me... or is:

"The theory basically goes that any civilisation which could evolve to a 'post-human' stage would almost certainly learn to run simulations on the scale of a universe. And that given the size of reality - billions of worlds, around billions of suns - it is fairly likely that if this is possible, it has already happened."

So painfully contradictory?
Click to expand...

indeed
 
THMRK said:
Surely this begs the question, though, of why any sufficiently advanced species would want to run a simulation of a universe?
Click to expand...


I'm sure we had a thread on this a while ago. We currently run computer simulations of the birth of the universe for scientific study. It shouldn't be a massive leap to understand the usefulness of a full universe simulation from a scientific and historic point of view.

If we are a simulation then it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to you or me. For all we know we have only been in existence for a couple of milliseconds if the simulation has just started.
 
Last edited:
Meh. And how can they disprove this? Last time I checked one of the standard tests of any theory was that it could be disproved. I'm not sure this could be, so it sounds like a load of poo too me:)

Philosophers should know better.
 
dazzerd said:
Meh. And how can they disprove this? Last time I checked one of the standard tests of any theory was that it could be disproved. I'm not sure this could be, so it sounds like a load of poo too me:)

Philosophers should know better.
Click to expand...

Well quite. No test you could run here would look any different to an identical test conducted in a natural universe which follows the same physical laws. But there's nothing wrong with just toying with the idea.
 
...and if it is a simulation...

What changes exactly?

Zilch, god is still indeterminable, people are still stupid and society lives on, this is not a question we can answer currently anyway, we do not have the level of technology required to even remotely assert it to the degree that is needed, especially to actually determine what universe is prime, which is also impossible without being a tier 2 or higher civilisation.

Leave this sort of things to philosophy, while we advance a few centuries/millennia.

Another logical problem is that even if we are simulation, then surely on the level required to do such a thing, the simulation would have to be run as it would have if they were trying to simulate their own universe or at the very least with a few tweaks (to determine what would occur if say mavity was a bit stronger or if there were more Iron in the universe than usual), so in essence, we would also be able to run such simulations of our own and perhaps determine if we even are one.

I better stop here, it just doesn't deserve the thought required, but it is more interesting than most of the drivel that passes through.
 
The Wachowski bothers have a lot to answer for! As well us giving us two crap sequels they've inspired this nonsense.

I genuinely hope there isn't a lot of money being funnelled into "research" projects like these. It would be a terrible waste.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom