The argument that
many-worlds theory implies that we are 'almost certainly' in a computer
simulation has been put forward by many people, and there are many
similarly themed arguments used to suggest that many-worlds theory is 'obviously
not true'; most of these arguments contain well hidden logical inconsistencies
which involve switching back and forth between many-world and single world
ideas. This leads to a rather strange way of counting the different possible
'classical universes' that we might be part of. The sleight of hand (or honest
mistake) used in these arguments lies in the seemingly innocent assumption that
a powerful god-like being who builds a simulation of our universe must then be
the cause of our existence. This would be true in a single classical universe,
but it is not true in many-worlds theory, where we should use a definition
of 'causing' or 'implying' involving a correlation between different classical
universes, ie. that [god-like being does not simulate us] =>(almost always)
[we do not exist]. This is discussed in David Deutsch's 'The Fabric of Reality',
where he gives the example that no butterflies cause hurricanes by flapping
their wings (unless you put one in a human built 'hurricane mahine' with a touch
sensitive keyboard)..
How we should correctly 'count the
universes' in which we live is by starting with what we know exists: Ourselves,
the planet Earth, evidence of our ancestry, the surrounding galaxies, etc. and
looking at what we can 'append' to this universe: We could have some universes
where there is everything we know exists, plus super-intelligient beings who
behave as though they are controlling us, but for each of these, one would
expect many more universes containing everything we know exists, plus some
generic random distribution of (generally non-living) matter, such as some rocks
or a cloud.
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- Re: are we in a simulation? John Collins
- Re: are we in a simulation? David Kwinter
- Re: are we in a simulation? George Levy
- Re: are we in a simulation? John Collins
- Re: are we in a simulation? George Levy
- Re: are we in a simulation? Hal Finney
- Re: Are we in a simulation Eric Hawthorne
- Re: are we in a simulation? George Levy
- Re: are we in a simulation? Stephen Paul King
- Re: are we in a simulation? George Levy
- Re: are we in a simulation? Stephen Paul King