Well it's a theory. Seems to me to have the same dangerous attraction as religions ("because we can't prove the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist, its existing must be a very real possibility".) Personally I reserve the highest level of skepticism for ideas which define themselves as not being testable. (And nearly as much skepticism for ideas that are the tiniest step back from that extreme, as in this case.)
How do you know it's not provable? There is someone who is trying to do just that, by measuring spacial things and seeing if our reality is built on a 3D grid. I don't recall much more on it, but he's measuring the time it takes for something with a consistent movement to travel in different directions.
A very simply example is to imagine our existence is built on squares so that traveling up/down, or left/right would take less time than traveling diagonally.
Anyone who played UO, a hex based map, knows how running straight up/down, left/right, as opposed to any other direction was visibly faster. Same sort of thing.
He said it's impossible to prove that it does not exist.
Right.
We can imagine a version of The Matrix which deliberately displays "You are definitely living in a simulation" in 5,000 foot tall letters suspended in the sky. Which implies that evidence could alternatively surface unintentionally.
So if the theory was true, it might not be impossible to detect. Whereas if the theory wasn't true, you couldn't ever differentiate whether the complete lack of evidence came from it being untrue, or from the simulation being done in a way where detection was impossible.
(Also I find it fascinating that Descartes posed the core idea in 1641 as an Evil Demon manipulating the mind so completely that the victim was totally deceived. Essentially an identical concept. In 1641!)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Well it's a theory. Seems to me to have the same dangerous attraction as religions ("because we can't prove the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist, its existing must be a very real possibility".) Personally I reserve the highest level of skepticism for ideas which define themselves as not being testable. (And nearly as much skepticism for ideas that are the tiniest step back from that extreme, as in this case.)
How do you know it's not provable? There is someone who is trying to do just that, by measuring spacial things and seeing if our reality is built on a 3D grid. I don't recall much more on it, but he's measuring the time it takes for something with a consistent movement to travel in different directions.
A very simply example is to imagine our existence is built on squares so that traveling up/down, or left/right would take less time than traveling diagonally.
Anyone who played UO, a hex based map, knows how running straight up/down, left/right, as opposed to any other direction was visibly faster. Same sort of thing.
He said it's impossible to prove that it does not exist.
Right.
We can imagine a version of The Matrix which deliberately displays "You are definitely living in a simulation" in 5,000 foot tall letters suspended in the sky. Which implies that evidence could alternatively surface unintentionally.
So if the theory was true, it might not be impossible to detect. Whereas if the theory wasn't true, you couldn't ever differentiate whether the complete lack of evidence came from it being untrue, or from the simulation being done in a way where detection was impossible.
(Also I find it fascinating that Descartes posed the core idea in 1641 as an Evil Demon manipulating the mind so completely that the victim was totally deceived. Essentially an identical concept. In 1641!)
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Us talking about such things while living on this little pea of a planet.... floating around an insignificant star, which in turn is floating around an insignificant galaxy, which in turn is floating around an insignificant universe, which in turn is floating around who knows what.
Sounds pretty impossible.... doesn't it?
Why would that sound impossible? We have pretty good observable evidence for all of that...
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Us talking about such things while living on this little pea of a planet.... floating around an insignificant star, which in turn is floating around an insignificant galaxy, which in turn is floating around an insignificant universe, which in turn is floating around who knows what.
Sounds pretty impossible.... doesn't it?
Why would that sound impossible? We have pretty good observable evidence for all of that...
Yes I kind of blew that try at sarcasm
My point is: IMHO just us being here talking about this stuff pretty much proves that anything is possible.
Woah, I was amazed on this thread because of one question that branched into different answers, into different perspective of different people. It has come to simple computer codes that went into religious talks/topics, that could possibly result into very unrealistic perspective (Imagination).
Comments
Right.
We can imagine a version of The Matrix which deliberately displays "You are definitely living in a simulation" in 5,000 foot tall letters suspended in the sky. Which implies that evidence could alternatively surface unintentionally.
So if the theory was true, it might not be impossible to detect. Whereas if the theory wasn't true, you couldn't ever differentiate whether the complete lack of evidence came from it being untrue, or from the simulation being done in a way where detection was impossible.
(Also I find it fascinating that Descartes posed the core idea in 1641 as an Evil Demon manipulating the mind so completely that the victim was totally deceived. Essentially an identical concept. In 1641!)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Are we living in the matrix right now?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science/what-universe-real-physics-has-some-mind-bending-answers-180952699/?no-ist
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Why would that sound impossible? We have pretty good observable evidence for all of that...
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Yes I kind of blew that try at sarcasm
My point is: IMHO just us being here talking about this stuff pretty much proves that anything is possible.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
If you believe in any of the established religions and the concept of "soul" then we are indeed living in someone else' virtual reality simulation.
Boobs are LIFE, Boobs are LOVE, Boobs are JUSTICE, Boobs are mankind's HOPES and DREAMS. People who complain about boobs have lost their humanity.
Some 8-bit Philosophy