Don't worry mate, I'm not serious on this - far too old for that. It is an interesting thought experiment though.The_Waspman said:ascorbius said:Think about it, If there were loading screens, you wouldn't see them - your simulation would be paused while more data is loaded. Only those who made the simulation would notice anything happening at all.The_Waspman said:I'm calling bullshit on this.
If videogames have tought me anything its that you cant even enter a building without a fucking loading screen.
No loading screens in real life? Well then its not a fucking simulation, is it?
Actually, you'd be experiencing time at a completely different rate to what the creators of the simulation were.
I've thought about this before 13th floor kind-of gave me the nudge..
Consider this: we continue to make advances in science, things are becoming more complex from what we remember growing up - It stands to reason that there is a chance that this is because they keep upgrading the simulation machine and over time it can handle more levels of detail, just like most of us do with our PCs.. We're just in something like a massively complex CryEngine or something like that. We don't notice the upgrade because they pause the simulation for perform them.
And if it was God who crated the simulation, think about this... what happens to computer programs on your PC when you close them down? Do their souls go to your hard drive? No, they stop running and the memory they allocated is used by something else... They never spill out onto your desk. They can never leave the digital world.
There is no afterlife if this is a simulation... Even if there is a God, you're going to heaven no more than Gordon Freeman will - and we like Gordon Freeman - He does noble work. When we close Half-Life, Gordon Freeman ceases to exist in memory and remains only on your hard drive as a set of instructions needed to create Gordon Freeman the next time you want to play.
Also, if this is a simulation, there is no free will as we're set on a pre-programmed path where our actions are based on stimulus and reaction - It's just so complex we perceive it as free will. Think about it, when was the last time you made a truly independent decision which wasn't based on outside factors or a learned response to some other stimulus?
Oh lord. I knew, just knew I shouldn't have commented on this topic. Nothing personal against you mate, but We had a lot of debates about this back when I was at university (shortly after the matrix came out) and most of the arguments haven't changed. Besides, I was just attempting to be snarky. Anyway, to respond to some points...
You say things are becoming more complex. I assume from that you mean our technological advances, and our understanding, on a societal level as opposed to everyone being morons when they were kids. So in a similar way to how graphical improvements have been made in video games, yes? Well, I cant really buy that. Just because we now 'understand' more about subatomic behaviour (or whatever) now than we did 200 years ago, wouldn't really mean that this stuff has just been patched in. There is just far too much complexity for this all to be a simulation, basically because:
This. Even if we were all just programs (as opposed to organisms plugged into some huge virtual reality) there are far far too many of us (as well as every other organism, and hell, everything else in the universe) far any computer system to realistically be able to process. Even if we were all part of some amazingly advanced technological system, we would all be existing within it as it ran in real time, without any glitches at all. At all!?Daverson said:Of course, the theory falls apart when you come to the realization that the hardware for said simulation would have a finite amount of computing power available, so wouldn't be able to run infinite nestled simulations (and, realistically speaking, probably wouldn't be able to run even a single nestled simulation)
Nope, still not buying it.
As for your point about our decision making abilities, well, none of us have any individuality anyway. If you look at Memetics (actual memetics, not all this internet shit about Chuck Norris being the worlds most badass pony or whatever) then all any of us are, as 'individuals', are collections of a great number of different social and cultural replicators. Thats one of the reasons we have evolved in the way we have. Does that support your - I dont really want to use the word 'argument', because it carries too much confrontational weight, and as I said, I'm not having a go at you, its more this topic - so lets say your supposition, than it does mine? Well, probably.
Captcha: partly to blame. Yeah, thanks captcha, thanks a lot.
No silicone heaven? Where would all the calculators go?