[extropy-chat] A reflection on the simulation argument

[Dirk Bruere]

Diego Caleiro wrote:

>This is a paper I did sometime ago about thoughts on the simulation argument,
>It looked prettier in the open office than in mail format, but thats not the 
>big point about it
> I'm not a phylosopher, I'm not even in university, so there might be some 
>phylosophical or logical lacks in this reflection, Still, I'd like to hear 
>from some of you what do you think about it.
>
>
>Diego (Log At) 
>
>
>
>Why I think we are probably not living in a computer simulation
>
>...
>Why I think we are in the real world
>
>	As Nick Bostrom said, the possibility of us being in a personal world (as he 
>says, a me-simulation)  is much smaller than the possibility of us being in a 
>complete world, but, as I argued before, it is rather improbable that this 
>world is the best conceived by our other level gods, that created us. Some 
>philosophers have once defended god existence and goodness based on the idea 
>that we coudn't be able to feel it, but this is the best world there may be. 
>Most of the people don't think so, and I don't think our posthuman gods would 
>create an enviroment like earth, with so many problems for most of us and 
>solutions for few.
>	The possibility of us being the creation of a egoistic posthuman, whose 
>biggest passion is to observe and judge us, is possible, still, it is 
>improbable that an egoistic superintelligence would be concerned with that.
>	Conclusion: If we are to assume that a darwin based society developed 
>post”human” superintelligence, then this superintelligence is probably 
>altruistic, and therefore, if we are all senscient beings, we would live in a 
>world with less sadness, hunger etc.. than the world we beleive we live in. 
>That is why I think this is more probably the real world, the fundamental 
>level than a secondary one.   
>
>  
>
There is one very good reason to run sims.
In a truly posthuman world there may well still be a requirement to 
bring new intelligences into the society. Since the bulk of the action 
in a posthuman soc is likely to be in simulation itself it makes sense 
to 'evolve' new citizens. And one of the best sims (IMO) would be one 
where normal sim Humans progress through the Singularity (as they did in 
the real history) to become those posthuman 'new citizens'. It allows 
those who run the sim to get a good look at their new citizens and weed 
out the undesirables. I rather doubt that Saddam would make the grade, 
for example.

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org



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