[ExI] Bodies

[Keith Henson]

On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 5:00 AM,  Alec Nielsen <alecnielsen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 2:38 PM, Tom Nowell <nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> I believe there will always be people who will prefer our physical reality despite the flaws (or maybe BECAUSE of the flaws) and will find some reason to abandon the virtual worlds because of some virtue, real or imaginary, they find in it.
>
> As a scientist, much of my happiness and purpose in life comes from
> studying nature. I think it will be hard to find this fulfillment in
> an invented world.

How do you know you are not in a simulation right now?

Say the real universe is filled with technophiles and the lot of us
are being run as a simulation to see how intelligences would develop
when they think they are alone.  (Another answer to the Fermi
question.)

If you prey to the operating system and it answers you back, you know
you are in a simulation (or deranged).  The converse is not true.

Keith