I go back and forth on the sim thing, based on mood of the day. It may be better to say we are a program, rather than a system of programs made for entertainment, ancestor simulation, whatever Nick Bostrom wants to promote. On the other hand, the technical control for a sim, seems arduous, in computing cycles. Secondly, the lack of any identifiable signals from ET indicates that its not a sim, since having multiple, various, species-civilizations, interacting with one another, is far more stimulating, then the dead of space that we encounter with telescopes, and radio receivers. Based on the physics of the day, and my mood, I will say that this is real, but space-time is dead and empty, save, for astrophysical phenomena. Prediction: If what I have said is true, people will turn inward and live the dream in VR, specifically, our descendants.
-----Original Message----- From: Brent Meeker <[email protected]> To: everything-list <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Jun 10, 2016 2:08 pm Subject: Re: Aristotle the Nitwit On 6/10/2016 7:37 AM, John Clark wrote: On Thu, Jun 9, 2016 Brent Meeker <[email protected]> wrote: > His [Bruno's] consciousness is a certain pattern of computational threads and these exist eternally (in PA or equivalent). Poisoning his material merely makes it impossible for his consciousness to be manifested in this branch of the multiverse. But WHY? Why does a particular form of matter make it impossible for his consciousness to exist in that branch of the multiverse if matter is not needed for consciousness? Bruno has no answer but I do. As I understand it, each branch of the multiverse is analogous to a branch in simulation. "Bruno" is just a character, a bundle of attributes, in each simulation. The simulation includes (simulated) physics as shared consistent thoughts and perceptions by the simulated characters. If simulated physics is a that the simulated Bruno in that branch doesn't function anymore then there are no longer any simulated Bruno thoughts or consciousness in that branch. But there are in other branches. And since the theory is that these "simulations" are really fundamental and "exist" in the mathematical sense, there are infinitely of them and infinitely many instances of the bundle of attributes Bruno thinks he is. I have argued this point with Bruno several times, and when pressed he agrees that matter is needed for consciousness - just not "fundamental" matter. Matter is just a hypothetical substance we invent to explain the consistency of our shared experiences - rather than assume solipism. It's a very good explanation and it has a long history of working well, but it's still an hypothesis - while consciousness is a direct experience. Brent -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
