Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: Is the Universe a Simulation?

a reply to: BotheLumberJack

That is direction I am currently leaning towards as well.

But it is an interesting question and I am most fascinated by the person's thought path down this winding road .

I don't really think it matters what this reality is. If it is physical and spiritual with hard coded rules of nature or if it is simply 0s & 1s comprising a computer program, it doesn't really matter. Even in 'The Matrix' whether they were in the simulation or outside of it running around in their ships fighting the machines, they still didn't answer 'what this reality is'. The simply proposed a subroutine within the main program itself. Now what is the main program?

Even if we were created by aliens, who created them?

a reply to: blackcrowe

I'm glad you feel that way, I don't feel like I wasted my time posting this either.

a reply to: BotheLumberJack

I hope you watched my reply vid to you.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Do you really want to know exactly what this reality is?

Why would you want to know that? How do you think that concrete knowledge would affect your current life?

a reply to: ClovenSky

I don't think it matters at this point either, it may later on though. We are binary beings, and we live in a binary Universe. I think the need to know is very Human though, if it weren't we probably wouldn't be bothered to ask the questions that we are, and there wouldn't be the need for Physicists, Philosophists or Cosmologists because it wouldn't matter.

But it does.

a reply to: blackcrowe

I'm still on it, thankyou

a reply to: BotheLumberJack

Enjoy it when you get time to watch it.

I hope it blows your mind.

Thanks.

a reply to: BotheLumberJack

Excellent brother, simply excellent.

I also love the questions. I think that is what makes this reality so great, the unknown.

I love the veil between this reality and the next. The veil that will never be punctured while we still draw breath and exist in this mortal coil. If we knew what this reality was, it would severely cheapen this reality.

It is a giant puzzle box or maybe even a game. What a wonderful creation it is. The beautiful mix of pain and pleasure, the duality of it all, or maybe it isn't binary but tertiary. Then you could have different combinations of realities instead of just two people bouncing their own originality against each other.

Is there only one of us? Are there perhaps two of us? 3 or more would be a much better simulation. 2 gods consorting together to create a reality for the 3rd person to experience, simply for a change of scenery from the never changing, ever boring spirit world. Then they could take turns creating different realities to escape from the boredom.

Maybe there is only one of us at the core. Maybe we split ourselves off into multiple personalities with no knowledge that we came from the whole. So many possibilities.

But I agree with Tiny, Great thread.

Ship in a Bottle: Star Trek Episode
Moriarty was a simulation that escaped from the holodeck into the 'real world'.





Another favorite is the 13th floor:

originally posted by: ClovenSky
a reply to: Itisnowagain

Do you really want to know exactly what this reality is?

Why would you want to know that? How do you think that concrete knowledge would affect your current life?

If it was realised that there was no death.........then the fear of not being wouldn't be there would it?

See........... life is not 'yours' or 'mine'...............it is simply life.

The way and the life is this that IS..................it couldn't be any different than it IS..............conflict ends.

a reply to: BotheLumberJack

Have you watched 'Westworld'?

a reply to: Itisnowagain

No I haven't seen that one.

originally posted by: BotheLumberJack
a reply to: Itisnowagain

No I haven't seen that one.

It was first just a film......but it has been made into a series.
There is an amusement park for rich people to go and play in.........the amusement park is populated with robots that are really life like...........they don't realise that they are 'not real'.............they have corner stones and quests.
They are asked...........do you ever question your reality.
There have been two seasons so far - I highly recommend watching it.
Here is a trailer:

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Ah, so if you knew this reality was but fleeting and we are truly immortal through our soul or spirit, at the first sign of distress wouldn't you simply off yourself? You wouldn't even have the shame of depriving your family and friends with your selfishness because they would all see you again. Nothing would matter.

Doesn't that lack of knowledge bring a sweetness to this life? What if we are simply electric impulses in a bag o flesh, would you then try to suck as much life out of this world as possible before you vanish? Or if there were not consequences for your actions, again just end your life when the going got tough. It doesn't really matter or does it?

Having knowledge of what this reality is would ruin it, imo.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

I'll check that out, thanks

a reply to: ClovenSky

Have you seen the film 'Inception'?
The lady in that film believed that this is just a dream and if you kill yourself you will wake up..................but wouldn't it just still be dreaming?

What if there is just dreams, without a separate dreamer?
Just dreaming.

a reply to: ClovenSky

Is there only one of us? Are there perhaps two of us? 3 or more would be a much better simulation. 2 gods consorting together to create a reality for the 3rd person to experience, simply for a change of scenery from the never changing, ever boring spirit world. Then they could take turns creating different realities to escape from the boredom.

This is highly debatable, and something i've contemplated many times.

We may very well be the Gods we've been worshipping.

originally posted by: BotheLumberJack

We may very well be the Gods we've been worshipping.

Only when you have realised what you are...........................you may well have misidentified yourself.
Know Thyself.

originally posted by: Itisnowagain

originally posted by: BotheLumberJack

We may very well be the Gods we've been worshipping.

Only when you have realised what you are...........................you may well have misidentified yourself.
Know Thyself.

And how do you think we might do that? I mean apart from death?

originally posted by: BotheLumberJack

originally posted by: Itisnowagain

originally posted by: BotheLumberJack

We may very well be the Gods we've been worshipping.

Only when you have realised what you are...........................you may well have misidentified yourself.
Know Thyself.

And how do you think we might do that? I mean apart from death?

Are you not seeing and knowing??
Can what is appearing appear without seeing and knowing being present?
Does the aware space ever go anywhere?
Because it is always present.......it gets overlooked.