# We live in a computer simulation! How would it change your perception? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462 "2015-03-07T18:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/1 "2015-03-07T18:35:34Z")
Regarding the theory that we actually live in an advanced computer simulation. What if tomorrow, scientists working on string theory discover that the strings they are looking for actually are made up of a binary code. How would this knowledge effect your beliefs? How do you think it would effect society as a whole? ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/2 "2015-03-07T18:40:07Z")
It would change everything, and nothing. Because there’s nothing we can do about it. What would be most interesting is the quest for the “bugs.” It’s virtually unfathomable that we haven’t found any yet… ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/3 "2015-03-07T19:37:10Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > It would change everything, and nothing. > > Because there’s nothing we can do about it. > > What would be most interesting is the quest for the “bugs.” It’s virtually unfathomable that we haven’t found any yet… I thought we found a bug when nobody could agree on what color the dress is. The knowledge of living in the Matrix doesn’t do shit for me. I still gotta go to work in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/4 "2015-03-07T20:14:49Z")
It would mean that the speed of light definitely has a work around, as it is a software constraint, not a fundamental limit of the hardware! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/5 "2015-03-07T21:21:09Z")
Changes nothing. EDIT:What if I tell you reality is all the dream of a butterfly, it does have rational rules but is a dream all the same. What would change for you? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/6 "2015-03-07T21:24:40Z")
If I were to discover that this was the case, I would never pass a pane of glass without knocking on it and saying hello to the operator. Just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/7 "2015-03-08T02:41:18Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > What would be most interesting is the quest for the “bugs.” It’s virtually unfathomable that we haven’t found any yet… I think the existence of oddities like [Russell’s Paradox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox) must be a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/8 "2015-03-08T04:21:52Z")
Philosophically, it would be immensely revolutionary, as it implies a kind of personal immortality. If we’re a sim, then we can be stored and then restored and simmed again. It would be very close to a proof of reincarnation. In practice, the furore would die down pretty quickly, as it became evident we can’t make any practical use of the knowledge. But it would shut down certain lines of philosophical inquiry, and it would make certain varieties of religion wholly untenable. (Those religions would never acknowledge this, of course, so…very little really changes.) ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/9 "2015-03-08T05:27:09Z")
[Link to a recent thread on this topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732356). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/10 "2015-03-08T05:50:00Z")
It’s computer simulation, computer simulation, computer simulation all the way up. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/11 "2015-03-08T08:17:54Z")
When offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill, I would take the blue pill. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/12 "2015-03-08T14:14:42Z")
It would mean that I would immediately switch from being an atheist to believing in gods. Now all I’d have to do is figure out how to converse with / pray to them. (“Yo, simulation gods? Can you make me just a little taller?”) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/13 "2015-03-08T14:30:39Z")
I’d be even more pissed that it’s always so cold in my cubicle. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/14 "2015-03-08T15:08:32Z")
And why no velociraptors to ride to work? This simulation sucks! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/15 "2015-03-10T00:24:37Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > What would be most interesting is the quest for the “bugs.” It’s virtually unfathomable that we haven’t found any yet… Quantum mechanics looks like what you might end up with if you built a simulation to a certain granularity, and just filled in the details when it “mattered”. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-how-would-it-change-your-perception/714462/16 "2015-03-10T10:44:54Z")
I’m guessing it would shame all of you masterbaters out there to turn off the lights. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Philosophically, it would be immensely revolutionary, as it implies a kind of personal immortality. If we’re a sim, then we can be stored and then restored and simmed again. It would be very close to a proof of reincarnation. _To Trinopus’s horror, he realized he had been digitally reincarnated as Earl, of Toejam & Earl fame_