[QUOTE=Mijin]
One reason I’m dubious that we’re in a simulation is, well, this Universe sucks.
I mean, first let’s ask, why would a sentient species run a simulation?
If it’s to perform some sort of experiment then the simulation can take no short cuts and every force and every particle would have to be simulated. This seems implausible given that to simulate our Universe for example, would require a computer much more complicated and much larger than our Universe (consider: even empty space would require lots of calculations of virtual particles).
Another answer is for entertainment / curiosity value. But if it’s this latter reason then wouldn’t we expect a Universe of almost limitless adventure, surprise, beauty and fairness? When humans imagine their own realities, they often have many of these properties, and I would expect any sentient species to have similar notions of what makes for an interesting reality.
For some reason, at the moment it’s very unfashionable to diss nature in any way. But suffice it to say, I don’t believe we’re living in a Universe of almost limitless adventure, surprise, beauty and fairness.
If, suddenly, this reality got a lot more interesting then I would start to wonder if we were in a simulation (and that the past was merely a fake memory, existing to provide a solid starting scenario).
[/QUOTE]
None of the simulations I’ve played were fair - particularly, not for the poor simluated entities I was manipulating/slaughtering. Nor were they all beautiful. Nor were they all surprising. Nor were they all limitless. Heck, the simulated universe of Pac-man meets none of those qualifications.
I will note again that none of the simulations I’ve run had to be started up millions of years before I started playing. Ergo, I still don’t think that reality is a simulation, and if it is, we humans definitely aren’t the point of or reason for the simulation being run.