Simulation hypothesis
This assumes that consciousness is not uniquely tied to biological brains but can arise from any system that implements the right computational structures and processes.
[3][4] The hypothesis is preceded by many earlier versions, and variations on the idea have also been featured in science fiction, appearing as a central plot device in many stories and films, such as The Matrix (1999).
[5] Human history is full of thinkers who observed the difference between how things seem and how they might actually be, with dreams, illusions, and hallucinations providing poetic and philosophical metaphors.
[8] In the Western philosophical tradition, Plato's allegory of the cave, presented in the 4th century BCE, stands out as an influential example.
René Descartes' evil demon philosophically formalized these epistemic doubts, to be followed by a large literature with subsequent variations like brain in a vat.
In 1969, Konrad Zuse published his book Calculating Space on automata theory, in which he proposes the idea that the universe is fundamentally computational, a concept which became known as digital physics.
[9] Nick Bostrom's premise: Many works of science fiction as well as some forecasts by serious technologists and futurologists predict that enormous amounts of computing power will be available in the future.
If (2) is true, then there must be a strong convergence among the courses of advanced civilizations so that virtually none contains any individuals who desire to run ancestor-simulations and are free to do so.
[18] The hypothesis has received criticism from some physicists, such as Sabine Hossenfelder, who considers that it is physically impossible to simulate the universe without producing measurable inconsistencies, and called it pseudoscience and religion.
[19] Cosmologist George F. R. Ellis, who stated that "[the hypothesis] is totally impracticable from a technical viewpoint", and that "late-night pub discussion is not a viable theory".
[30] Chalmers claims that they might eventually find that their thoughts fail to be physically caused, and argues that this means that Cartesian dualism is not necessarily as problematic of a philosophical view as is commonly supposed, though he does not endorse it.
If computationalism is correct and if there is no problem in generating artificial consciousness or cognition, it would establish the theoretical possibility of a simulated reality.
It is possible that consciousness requires a vital substrate that a computer cannot provide and that simulated people, while behaving appropriately, would be philosophical zombies.
Hans Moravec has explored the simulation hypothesis and has argued for a kind of mathematical Platonism according to which every object (including, for example, a stone) can be regarded as implementing every possible computation.
[41] Under the assumption of finite computational resources, the simulation of the universe would be performed by dividing the space-time continuum into a discrete set of points, which may result in observable effects.
In analogy with the mini-simulations that lattice-gauge theorists run today to build up nuclei from the underlying theory of strong interactions (known as quantum chromodynamics), several observational consequences of a grid-like space-time have been studied in their work.
Among proposed signatures is an anisotropy in the distribution of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays that, if observed, would be consistent with the simulation hypothesis according to these physicists.
[43] Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson said in a 2018 NBC News interview that he estimated the likelihood of the simulation hypothesis being correct at "better than 50-50 odds", adding "I wish I could summon a strong argument against it, but I can find none".
[44] However, in a subsequent interview with Chuck Nice on a YouTube episode of StarTalk, Tyson shared that his friend J. Richard Gott, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, made him aware of a strong objection to the simulation hypothesis.
[46] In a podcast with Joe Rogan, Musk said "If you assume any rate of improvement at all, games will eventually be indistinguishable from reality" before concluding "that it's most likely we're in a simulation".
A story about Virk trying on a virtual reality headset and forgetting he was in an empty room makes him wonder if the real world was created by more tech-savvy individuals, other than us.
As a result, Bertrand Russell has argued that the "dream hypothesis" is not a logical impossibility, but that common sense as well as considerations of simplicity and inference to the best explanation rule against it.
In On Certainty, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein has argued that such skeptical hypothesis are unsinnig (i.e. non-sensical), as they doubt knowledge that is required in order to make sense of the hypotheses themselves.
[62]Science fiction has highlighted themes such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and computer gaming for more than fifty years.
The book was made into a German made-for-TV film called World on a Wire (1973) directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and aired on ARD.
"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" is a short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in April 1966, and was the basis for the 1990 film Total Recall and its 2012 remake.
In Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, a short story made into a 1983 television film, the main character pays to have his mind connected to a simulation.
In 2015, Kent Forbes published a documentary named "The Simulation Hypothesis", notably featuring Max Tegmark, Neil degrasse Tyson, Paul Davies and James Gates.
A secret Vatican document describes the truth about the simulated reality by inviting its reader to choose any series of numbers at random.
The storyline involves an amnesia, seemingly to protect the integrity of the simulation, as suggested would be necessary by the philosopher Preston Green.
