Are we living in a computer simulation?

Posted by Olly Robinson on 26 October 2008 | 3 Comments

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In 2003 Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom had an article published in the journal Philosophical Quarterly. In this article he suggested that at least one of these three propositions must be true:

i. We humans will become extinct before we can develop into a 'posthuman' stage of civilisation.

ii. Any posthuman civilisation will have access to computer power so vast that time travel will be routine using computer-generated simulations of the past. (Bostrom calls these ancestor simulations ).

iii. That we are all living in one of these ancestor simulations.

With the potential advances of computer power offered by quantum computing such simulations are entirely possible. Bostrom suggests that the computing power available in a few million years will be so advanced that the human beings simulated in these programmes will be conscious!

Of course this idea is not absolutely original - the 1999 movie The Thirteenth Floor suggested something very similar. However Dr. Bostrum attempts to explain how such a circumstance could come about and is a very well respected academic. I am delighted to see that such ideas are now taken seriously.

Of course this has elements of the "Brain In a Vat" thought experiment of Hilary Putnam. (For further discussion on this please check out the posting below from my own Blogsite:

http://cheatingtheferryman.blogspot.com/2008/03/brain-in-vat.html

Indeed this idea also has echoes of Frank J Tipler's The Physics of Immortality. Those of you who attended my presentation at last year's Annual Gathering of the SMN in Manchester will recall I discussed this fascinating theory.

I would be delighted to hear the opinions of my fellow SMN members about both suggestions regarding the nature of our reality.


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Comments

  • koantum,

    I will certainly check out your piece. I will download it know and read it later this evening.

    I suspect that your approach will be very similar to that of the Indian contributors to my own blogsite. They are particularly interested in the Hindu concept of "Maya".

    Posted by Anthony Peake, 28/10/2008 3:55pm (3 years ago)

  • I find that these kind of thought experiments remind me of the limitations of science. Science relies for its evidence on what is observable, and is unable to comments on any invisible origins of the manifest universe, if there are any. It is like we are in a room, and science is BRILLIANT at telling us about what is in the room, and how the room has changed over time, but it cannot tell us a) why the room is there
    b) what is in the next room
    (unless of course, we work out how to open the door between the rooms)

    If we are in a simulation or a dream or in some kind of computer programme, there is some "other room", or even designer. While we might infer such things, we cannot have evidence, so it is probably no more than a kind of cyberfaith - a theism for the computer age.

    Posted by Benedict, 28/10/2008 3:54pm (3 years ago)

  • How about my piece "Inside the Spirit Matrix: A Contextualization of Contemporary Physics", presented at Approaches to Mind Sciences Emanating from Indian Culture, a conference organized by the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, India, January 27-29, 2007, PHILICA.COM Article number 82 or PDF [http://thisquantumworld.com/PDF/ISM.pdf]?

    Posted by koantum, 27/10/2008 3:53pm (3 years ago)

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