Surely a simulation wouldn't allow for 'real' people with real thoughts and emotions. Thus this argument can't be true. Think of a simulation as something like a self sustaining second life environment going on without external help- we know that those bits of code won't have thoughts (just really snazzy code)
noaccess said:If a computer could simulate an environment down to the particle level, then I guess it would have to be pretty possible for the lifeforms to be self-aware, have thoughts and experience emotions. Sure, they wouldn't be 'real', but the sims would definitely experience everything as such.
You perform that kind of simulation, you have all the components to produce a fully-functional virtual brain.
And, for those religious people, what would happen after death in a computer simulation? I mean, if we're not real surely then our programmers would be the ones who created us and thus there is no afterlife for us (unless its been programmed already)
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ALL YOU SEE IS REAL.
THERE IS NO SIMULACRUM.
DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS.
//END OF LINE
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The hard drive crashing would be nothing, we would just disappear before we knew it...We could just be in someone's elaborate version of The Sims. I hope their hard drive doesn't crash!![]()
The hard drive crashing would be nothing, we would just disappear before we knew it...
What would be bad is some error message.
ERROR #505 law_of_gravity.sim -- file corrupted
Well somethings up for sure, too many strange things happen around me. *ahem*
I'm very lucky. Everyone around me is very unlucky (Caroline bearing the brunt of that!)
I seem to gain static electricity.
My Macs turn themselves on randomly.
Both me and Caroline witnessed some mad blue ball of something that flickered and vanished.
I remember things in great detail from when I was a baby, even my mums obsession with indoor plants that ended when I was 7 months old.
Few more. but I forgetI wonder if I found a hack?
Mord said:stuff
Some of your argument went on about how you could be the god of everything as you are only conscience of your own thoughts. I thought this before and somehow came a cross the wiki for it the term is Solipsism and basically it comes down to "My mind is the only thing that I know exists". It's a pretty stubborn view point and personally, although I did think of it before, I think its rubbish. One would have to be the most arrogant person in the world to believe so- and thats no exaggeration as you are the only person in 'real' life and everything is just a figment of your imagination (literally).
This entire school of thought cannot even really exist as in theory, if the theory did hold, there would only be one solipsist and that would be me (because I am the only person conscience of my own thoughts) and thus you are all imagined. And at this point you think that this is a falsity as you are only conscience of your own personal thought and thus it all comes down to faith. Do you have the faith and lack of arrogance to accept that other people are real and that you could be wrong. I mean the world is pretty big how could you imagine it all and why would you allow bad things to happen to you like breaking up or getting fired or tripping.
Furthermore; I still can't see how consciousness can be simulated.