Keanu? Where are you?

August 14, 2007 5:06 PM

Are we already living in the SIMS Matrix? Dr. Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, says "My gut feeling, and it’s nothing more than that, is that there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation." BugMeNot
posted by nevercalm (15 comments total)

I'm fairly sure the hive will shoot this full of holes right quick, but it was an entertaining read from someone who's work I generally don't enjoy.
posted by nevercalm at 5:06 PM on August 14, 2007

I don't buy it. Then again, I was programmed not to.
posted by adamrice at 5:10 PM on August 14, 2007

Did you know that 80% of statistics are made up on the spot and only 5% of the people know that?
posted by captaincrouton at 5:10 PM on August 14, 2007

"Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else’s hobby. I hadn’t imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version of a guy who spends his weekends building model railroads or overseeing video-game worlds like the Sims."

It never occurred to him? Hasn't absolutely every child thought of this at some point or another? He must have had a stunningly unimaginative childhood.
posted by bugbread at 5:14 PM on August 14, 2007

So, when do we get to break out and severely injure the programmer/player in this twisted game? I have a very heavy virtual bludgeon I'm saving for the occasion.
posted by IronLizard at 5:17 PM on August 14, 2007

The math and the logic are inexorable once you assume that lots of simulations are being run.

Why would I assume this? Why would I assume any of this guy's premises? Also, what math & logic? This article is the ultimate fluff piece, there's almost no content whatsoever. I really can't believe this is in the Science section.

Moreover, this... whatever you would call it, it's hardly a theory is it? Idea. This idea illuminates nothing. So what if we are living in a simulacrum? Oh, I'm sorry, "simulation." My mistake. It makes literally no difference to the phenomena of the observable world, or the laws that govern it.

I can't believe philosophers anywhere at all are still trying to tread water in the mire of solipsism.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 5:20 PM on August 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

This theory is explored—possibly by the same guy, I don't remember—in the last ten minutes or so of this documentary. Pretty interesting, and way more compelling than "The Matrix", that's for sure.
posted by interrobang at 5:21 PM on August 14, 2007

We talked about this a few months ago. Much as I like this kind of thing, I think it's a bit soon for another round.
posted by teleskiving at 5:22 PM on August 14, 2007

it's an incredible leap he makes- from having a computer with the same processing power as a brain to simulating the 'world' in a computer. that's 2 completely different things.

to simulate the universe you would probably need a computer larger than the universe. it has to be modeling every particle...
posted by bhnyc at 5:24 PM on August 14, 2007

Thank goodness we have a diamond that cuts through illusion.
posted by Abiezer at 5:25 PM on August 14, 2007

to simulate the universe you would probably need a computer larger than the universe. it has to be modeling every particle...

No no, they're using a very advanced PKZIP. It's only logical. Like the Faraday cage I'm building in the family room to thwart the next move in this game.
posted by IronLizard at 5:27 PM on August 14, 2007

Sounds like he recently got stoned for the first time.
posted by sciurus at 5:33 PM on August 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

"And you know what the really crazy thing is? Our whole universe could be, like an atom in some giant's fingernail. And his whole universe could be an atom..."

"Dude, when you see the color blue, is it the same color I see?"

"Wait, wait, what if we are totally wrong, and we are, like, all just living in some kind of virtual reality? Like the Matrix dude?"

"Party foul! No one mentions the Matrix, no more for you man."
posted by quin at 5:37 PM on August 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

The question I find most interesting about this is: If you had a computer that could run a simulation of a universe, at the quark level, what kind of UI could it have to let a user find and somehow observe (and interact with??) the interesting parts?
posted by aubilenon at 5:38 PM on August 14, 2007

This article is the ultimate fluff piece, there's almost no content whatsoever.

Umm, what exactly do you expect from a popular article in a newspaper? Here is the original paper.
posted by dixie flatline at 5:40 PM on August 14, 2007