8 years ago
1
Why it matters that you realize you’re in a computer simulation
What if our universe is something like a computer simulation, or a virtual reality, or a video game? The proposition that the universe is actually a computer simulation was furthered in a big way during the 1970s, when John Conway famously proved that if you take a binary system, and subject that system to only a few rules (in the case of Conway’s experiment, four); then that system creates something rather peculiar.
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It does a good job of explaining why knowing doesn't unmake the universe, but what they never touch on is why anyone would care beyond simple curiosity.
Imagine that Ragnar "wakes up" to the fact that Skyrim is a game. Okay, now what? What changes for him now that he knows that he's a simulated character? Does it change how he interacts with the world? Does it change the value of his life or anyone else's? Does this knowledge allow him to "hack" the universe or know his own future?
Even if this universe is a simulation, a bus will still flatten you, fire still burns, and death isn't undone.