Are we living in a simulation. My take

There are two possibilities:

(1) We are on the top layer

(2) We are on the bottom layer

1 – This means that we are not living in a simulation. If it was possible to create a near-perfect simulation of reality, we will be the first.

2 – There is at least one layer above us. If we are in a simulated reality, we know it is possible to create a near-perfect simulation, therefore there can be infinitely many layers of reality. We are merely on the bottom level because we have not perfected our own simulation.

You may think why we would possibly create simulations. Now it can be explained with ChatGPT as an example:

Why do we generate text? To get ideas. Someone could be running our simulation for similar reasons.

Why would we simulate the universe? To create data, to understand how life formed, to fulfill someone’s fantasies of being the main character in a video game. It is not difficult to expect the few chinks in video game graphics won’t be sorted in the next decade (facial animations, hair, real-time conversations with NPCs).

A simulation cannot be more complex than the system that creates it – There cannot be more data in the current layer than the layer above. If we perfectly utilised the data of every atom in the universe to create a simulation, it would still be less than the amount of data in the layer above us. If we were to somehow hop layers, we would find a world with higher complexity, higher potential. This should be our aim. Conventional physics breaks down at quantum levels. Is this due to us approaching the limitations of the simulation? Like zooming in on a screen, we see the individual pixels. There is nothing more. Is this the case in our reality? If we apply the simulation theory to the formation of matter, are things explained? Can we use this knowledge to create future computational paradigms? Replacing the voxels and meshes of video games with some quantum representation.

Alternatively, one might consider that if our simulation is created for entertainment purposes (we can see intent to create them through the various Metaverse efforts spearheaded by Meta), then the higher layers will be less interesting than where we live. Imagine a video game world: we do not play video games that are more boring than real life; there is some addicting or engaging aspect about them. This idea should not argue against hopping layers, since we can always easily go down a layer. Like Plato’s allegory of the cave, could we possibly accept these ideas? Is it simply better to live in ignorance? The comfort and safety of Sol. He conveys that reality is subjective and that it is a byproduct of something larger. This poses the question: are we byproducts of a computer simulation with no purpose, not intentional – disposable. Learning such a truth would be shocking to us (even more so than the proof of no existence of a god).

Moore’s Law might be dead, but that does not mean computational capabilities are slowing down. They will continue to increase. Complexity of life (and things created by life) will continue to grow exponentially. This is a fundamental fact of the world and cannot be overridden by conscious actions. Soon we will have the processing power to create better, faster, bigger simulations. It is not a question of if a near-perfect simulation comes, but when.

‘I think therefore I am’

This famous quote does not apply to the body, but the mind. I am thinking, I am conscious, I have ‘free will’.

That is all I know for certain.

I do not know that other people are thinking.

I do not know that other people exist, I do not know that my city exists, or even that my body exists.

My mind is all… A collection of thoughts, bound together by the loose notion of identity.

The idea of a simulation crashes our reality completely.

How do I even know that other people experience the same reality than I am? Or that they even exist? Am I special? Am I the only person? Is my mind a computer program with the illusion of consciousness or do I actually exist in the layer above us, if I do why am I not aware of it? Descartes implies oneself must exist somewhere. That is the one little hope we can cling to.

To form a philosophy based on these ideas is self-destructive. One should base their actions on the assumption that we are living the top layer of the simulation. Still, it is important to acknowledge these aforementioned possibilities.

Due to the nature of this topic, a lot of what I say is conjecture. Feel free to disagree.