I truly believe we're in a simulation, and also that it doesn't matter that we're in a simulation.
NDT has been saying some crazy stuff lately too, and I heard he was an atomic asshole in person. Doesn't detract from the science he does... But he needs to only make expert statements about the things he's an expert on.
Hsu and Zee have suggested that the CMB provides an opportunity for a potential creator/simulator of our universe to communicate with the created/simulated without further intervention in the evolution of the universe. If, in fact, it is determined that observables in our universe are consistent with those that would result from a numerical simulation, then the Hsu-Zee scenario becomes a more likely possibility. Further, it would then become interesting to consider the possibility of communicating with the simulator, or even more interestingly, manipulating or controlling the simulation itself.
I've wondered about a way to communicate with the simulation runner for a while. Of course this may be just one thread in a vast multi-simulation (which is what I believe) in which case it would be very hard. We have to figure out a way to somehow draw with time as well as space, as well as figure out something they would realize as a message.
It would be insanely easy to determine the "signature" for organic life and immediately identify what exoplanets contain it, like spending 5 minutes writing a definition for a virus scanner. Then to learn the language, a civilization this advanced would have AI that learns the languages the same way a baby learns (with the advantage that it's not scouring the internet but actually observing our interactions). By associative learning it would be very easy to map our brains non-invasively; every time we're touched our somatosensory cortex is activated for the place of touch, every time our motor cortex is activated the associated muscle moves. If the AI is automatically figuring out that every area of our labial premotor cortex is associated with a phoneme then it's trivial to have a read-out of our thoughts.
Someone doesn't write a game like The Sims to look at the pretty swirling scenery. They want to see the thought bubbles, they want to be voyeurs. They may even want insertion hooks to meddle with the reality covertly (e.g. by learning the association of people's emotions with amygdalar activation and messing with their minds). In fact, they're likely to have ethical treatment laws the way we have for animal testing, and they may be obligated to intervene in societies that go to shit.
![NDT @ Simulated Reality debate: "I think the likelihood [of this being a simulation] may be very high"](/thumbnails/d9/fa/d9fa3b79-a692-49ec-adc1-efd4c4424d4e.jpg)
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Al_Rubyx ago
I truly believe we're in a simulation, and also that it doesn't matter that we're in a simulation.
NDT has been saying some crazy stuff lately too, and I heard he was an atomic asshole in person. Doesn't detract from the science he does... But he needs to only make expert statements about the things he's an expert on.
SarMegahhikkitha ago
Hsu and Zee have suggested that the CMB provides an opportunity for a potential creator/simulator of our universe to communicate with the created/simulated without further intervention in the evolution of the universe. If, in fact, it is determined that observables in our universe are consistent with those that would result from a numerical simulation, then the Hsu-Zee scenario becomes a more likely possibility. Further, it would then become interesting to consider the possibility of communicating with the simulator, or even more interestingly, manipulating or controlling the simulation itself.
Al_Rubyx ago
I've wondered about a way to communicate with the simulation runner for a while. Of course this may be just one thread in a vast multi-simulation (which is what I believe) in which case it would be very hard. We have to figure out a way to somehow draw with time as well as space, as well as figure out something they would realize as a message.
SarMegahhikkitha ago
It would be insanely easy to determine the "signature" for organic life and immediately identify what exoplanets contain it, like spending 5 minutes writing a definition for a virus scanner. Then to learn the language, a civilization this advanced would have AI that learns the languages the same way a baby learns (with the advantage that it's not scouring the internet but actually observing our interactions). By associative learning it would be very easy to map our brains non-invasively; every time we're touched our somatosensory cortex is activated for the place of touch, every time our motor cortex is activated the associated muscle moves. If the AI is automatically figuring out that every area of our labial premotor cortex is associated with a phoneme then it's trivial to have a read-out of our thoughts.
Someone doesn't write a game like The Sims to look at the pretty swirling scenery. They want to see the thought bubbles, they want to be voyeurs. They may even want insertion hooks to meddle with the reality covertly (e.g. by learning the association of people's emotions with amygdalar activation and messing with their minds). In fact, they're likely to have ethical treatment laws the way we have for animal testing, and they may be obligated to intervene in societies that go to shit.