What happens to society if it is proved that the world is a simulation? I should imagine that many would seriously consider what would be the point of it, if it is all merely a game in some computer. Would civilization break down?
I have spent a long time contemplating this and have come to this conclusion:
Does it matter at all? I mean I am assuming here that I have proof that the universe is a simulation and also that I cannot exit said simulation or know what is “on the other side”. So everything still works as it always has, a simulated burrito does what it always has. Well then who cares? Everything is fake but it operates according to the rules I’ve learned my whole life, might as well keep at it.
The creator(s) of the simulation would FINALLY be able to publish the results of their 15-billion year experiment. Although I do rather hope they don’t switch it off.
It probably means all this has more meaning and purpose than I have assumed.
Or it could have been just a few minutes and all our memories were created too. If it gets switched off, we’d never know it. It could have been switched off and on any number of times already with us none the wiser.
I would suddenly become religious.
“Hey, you, nerds! I know you can hear me! How about rendering some riches and hot chicks my way? Come on!”
I think a lot of people would have to ponder why this is being done and what are we really. Perhaps be on the lookout of signs of this being a simulation (which I believe I personally have seen - though I would not normally phrase it that way).
Also the question ‘what is next’ comes up. Are we just doomed to die in this simulation or is there a reason for our benefit. That question, and how people answer it may determine if society, or civilization will break down, change or perhaps build up to something better then we have now.
You’ve seen the Matrix, right? Well, like that only with more apathy and less action.
Seriously, if the designer of the simulation is worth his salt, he’ll reboot upon first clue that the program is crashing and ‘we’ll’ never know what happened.
Sales of red and blue pills will skyrocket.
What was that matrix quote that went something like - I know this steak is really just a bunch of ones and zeros. And I don’t care.
“You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?”
[Takes a bite of steak]
Cypher: "Ignorance is bliss. "
Most of the religious will still deny reality.
If the OPs scenario was reality - it would, for once, be the inverse of that.
Of course, the religious will still fight over the meaning of said reality, and nothing will really change.
Care to expand on that?
Please - no - search for other posts by him for details -
Ah, sorry, didn’t realize it was an issue.
its not so much an issue as it has been ‘beat to death’ in almost every thread that Lekatt participates in, and I personally would not like to see this get into another one of those debates.
David Chalmers is one of the few philosophers to have seriously engaged this issue (i.e. the very specific matrix-style computational one, rather than your more generic brain in a vat). Among his conclusions is, and I agree, that ultimately, what matters in life remains largely untouched. Whether the world is fundamentally ones and zeros or bosons and fermions, it’s clear that the meanings of things don’t lie at this fundamental level, just as the meaning of this paragraph does not reside in the letters constituting it: a list of n as, m bs, l cs and so on is a poor replacement, because of the missing structure that makes a piece of text—albeit in a fully reductionistically accountable way—be more than the sum of its parts.
In other words, steak does indeed taste just like steak, whether it’s code or quantum fields at the bottom.
Thank You.
And if this is my great grandchildren running a history program, they can expect to be left out of my will.