You are probably a simulation

In a previous post I discussed the idea that the only thing you can ever really know is that there are thoughts. You might not even exist. Your existance might be an illusion… Deal with it.

In fact your whole life might be a simulation – like the Matrix, except without the Zion part.

I’ve always liked that thought – even though it makes no difference to my daily life. It’s just interesting. I used to think about the possibility that my whole life is a computer game that the ‘real’ me is playing in another reality.

This post from Boing Boing takes the whole idea even further. Basically some ‘reasonable’ assumptions are made, leading to a surprising conclusion.

  1. We can never truly know that what we perceive is real (agreed)
  2. One day truly realistic simulations will exist which will seem 100% realistic to participants (reasonable)
  3. Many such simulations will be run, probably concurrently (given 2 then I agree)

If these assumptions are accepted then it is actually more likely that you are a simulation than ‘real’. The more simulations that are run, the lower the probably that this is the ‘real’ reality!

This of course makes no difference to my daily life – I’m stuck in this simulation and I rather like it. It is strange to think about though.

Maybe I should reject the second assumption to make myself feel better!