[extropy-chat] Is our Universe in a Brain?

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Ian Goddard <iamgoddard at yahoo.com> wrote:
> --- Russell Wallace wrote:
> 
> > Ian Goddard wrote:
> >
> > > Another way to ask ben's question [1] is: if the
> > > common universe outside our brains is a dynamic
> > > model within a computer, then how do we know 
> > > whether or not that computer is an *organic* 
> > > computer like a brain?
> > 
> > Unlikely. Our universe exhibits the ability to run
> > long chains of serial computation quickly and with 
> > high precision; this is something that organic 
> > brains are notoriously bad at.
> 
> 
>  That certainly holds for organic brains as they
> evolved under Earth-defined circumstances. But since
> the question at hand entails consideration of some
> brain that came to be under unknown circumstances, I'm
> not so sure we can place Earth-defined limits on such
> a hypothetical brain. 
>  
>  My meta-sense here is that there may be no way we can
> rule in or out the extrapolations explored here
> regarding the Simulation Argument (which posits that
> the universe is a computer-generated simulation). So
> my underlying argument tends to be that we cannot rule
> out ben's conjecture, as was done.

The real problem with your proposition is that Yudkowskian logic
demonstrates that super-human intelligence is not a survival advantage
under darwinian evolution, ergo the superhuman intellect you posit is
imagining the universe could not have been naturally evolved.

If the universe is running on any sort of computer, I would imagine
that it most likely is running on some form of black hole computer.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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