You monster.
It's a pleasure to meet a like-minded fellow like yourself.
To begin with, you may be aware there is some [http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-thinks-the-universe-might-be-a-simulation-2016-4?IR=T] discussion [https://phys.org/news/2012-10-real-physicists-method-universe-simulation.html] going on right now as to whether our universe is a simulated one or not.
One of the better arguments for this notion is, assuming that a sufficiently advanced technical civilization would in all likelihood have the means to simulate (albeit most likely in an imperfect fashion) a universe of its own, whether for research, entertainment or something else entirely. Should that be the case, the number of simulated sophonts created by that civilization would vastly outstrip the number of the "real" people belonging to it, not to mention simulated folks might be able to create further simulations within their universe, further expanding the overall number of simulated people. Logically then, with the number of sims far exceeding that of true meatspace beings, odds of being born in a simulation are much greater than those of being really real.
Another thing you may have heard of is Fermi's Paradox [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox]. How does that tie in? Gaming!
Many videogames (it could be argued it's all of them, to some degree) contain elements of simulation and some of them simulate entire worlds. However, in order to save processing power, simulations are not uniform - they focus on a certain area (the world around the player in Skyrim, the set area map in Dwarf Fortress...) that's important from the point of view of game mechanics and the player, while creating a much rougher simulation of more distant events (distant skylines being just more or less painted on the horizon, the way DF external settlements and history operate in a vastly simplified manner...
Assuming we are indeed sims, the rig that we run on, no matter how powerful, cannot possibly possess unlimited processing power. It would then make sense, that in creating a sim universe, it would, much like our games albeit on a far greater scale, establish a point of focus and run everything else by simplified mechanics - and given how complex life is, not to mention an advanced technical civilization like ours, this could serve as an explanation for Fermi's Paradox - out-of-focus mechanics simply don't support (sentient) life.
How does learning this annihilate universe?
Universe's point of focus being anchored somewhere around Earth (or Solar System or something... You know, our stellar neighborhood) would indicate something unique to this area is the point of the whole simulation, the "protagonist" in game terms - and humanity is the prime candidate here.
That would mean we are being watched directly by a very specific God - the almighty Celestial Admin.
That would also mean there are certain parameters to the simulation - for instance a manned mission beyond the POF area would likely be doomed to end in a catastrophe. Another key parameter however, could be inferred from the fact our world is generally set up in such a way as to not alert us to the fact we're being simulated - we're not supposed to be aware of this, or to break the fourth wall.
This is of course all conjecture, but it's conjecture made without huge leaps of logic and based on very specific observations and it indicates that realizing we live in a simulation is likely to prompt admin action - may be just modding the system on the fly (also known as "miracles"), a rollback, a reset or, in the most drastic case, just pulling the plug on the Universal Server.
So hey, wanna make a difference? Spread the news!
It's a pleasure to meet a like-minded fellow like yourself.
To begin with, you may be aware there is some [http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-thinks-the-universe-might-be-a-simulation-2016-4?IR=T] discussion [https://phys.org/news/2012-10-real-physicists-method-universe-simulation.html] going on right now as to whether our universe is a simulated one or not.
One of the better arguments for this notion is, assuming that a sufficiently advanced technical civilization would in all likelihood have the means to simulate (albeit most likely in an imperfect fashion) a universe of its own, whether for research, entertainment or something else entirely. Should that be the case, the number of simulated sophonts created by that civilization would vastly outstrip the number of the "real" people belonging to it, not to mention simulated folks might be able to create further simulations within their universe, further expanding the overall number of simulated people. Logically then, with the number of sims far exceeding that of true meatspace beings, odds of being born in a simulation are much greater than those of being really real.
Another thing you may have heard of is Fermi's Paradox [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox]. How does that tie in? Gaming!
Many videogames (it could be argued it's all of them, to some degree) contain elements of simulation and some of them simulate entire worlds. However, in order to save processing power, simulations are not uniform - they focus on a certain area (the world around the player in Skyrim, the set area map in Dwarf Fortress...) that's important from the point of view of game mechanics and the player, while creating a much rougher simulation of more distant events (distant skylines being just more or less painted on the horizon, the way DF external settlements and history operate in a vastly simplified manner...
Assuming we are indeed sims, the rig that we run on, no matter how powerful, cannot possibly possess unlimited processing power. It would then make sense, that in creating a sim universe, it would, much like our games albeit on a far greater scale, establish a point of focus and run everything else by simplified mechanics - and given how complex life is, not to mention an advanced technical civilization like ours, this could serve as an explanation for Fermi's Paradox - out-of-focus mechanics simply don't support (sentient) life.
How does learning this annihilate universe?
Universe's point of focus being anchored somewhere around Earth (or Solar System or something... You know, our stellar neighborhood) would indicate something unique to this area is the point of the whole simulation, the "protagonist" in game terms - and humanity is the prime candidate here.
That would mean we are being watched directly by a very specific God - the almighty Celestial Admin.
That would also mean there are certain parameters to the simulation - for instance a manned mission beyond the POF area would likely be doomed to end in a catastrophe. Another key parameter however, could be inferred from the fact our world is generally set up in such a way as to not alert us to the fact we're being simulated - we're not supposed to be aware of this, or to break the fourth wall.
This is of course all conjecture, but it's conjecture made without huge leaps of logic and based on very specific observations and it indicates that realizing we live in a simulation is likely to prompt admin action - may be just modding the system on the fly (also known as "miracles"), a rollback, a reset or, in the most drastic case, just pulling the plug on the Universal Server.
So hey, wanna make a difference? Spread the news!
Just making sure, jeopardizing existence is not against CoC, right?