PHLA10H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Counterfactual History, Robin Hanson
Document Summary
But berkeley also says that god guarantees reality. Suppose we are in a simulation: epistemic. The brain might think it is in tucson, but it actually is in a basement in new york etc, the only thing that the brain knows is that it exists: metaphysical. Matter (quantum fields, universal constants, dark matter, etc. ), however if we are in a computer simulation instead of things such as quantum fields, the universe is made up of codes: ethical. There is a significant probability that you"re living in a computer simulation. Hmmm, most people think it"s highly probable. Its reasonable to believe that in the future we are going to develop computers that will control consciousness. If the assumptions are true, we could never know. Bostrom says meh he says there would be no direct observational way to tell, but it is moderately interesting. The simulation argument: species will probably go extinct before they develop the technology.
