If our universe was an artificial construct, then the potential scenarios spin out of control as we consider the possible motivations of the ‘creators’. Although the assumption may not apply in universes with different physical laws, I’ll operate on the premise that their computing power is finite.
In the first scenario, the one that normally shows up in popular science programmes referring to science fiction to entertain the audience, this is a game. If we were directly created by the ‘creators’, then we must be beings that they can conceive of, and reflect some side of their psyche. I don’t think this planet is the most interesting setting for a game I could imagine, so assuming we can reflect our creators psyches with our own biases, the only data we’ll ever get in this scenario, there are probably more perfect games for them to play. This implies they would only spend limited resources on this particular universe, and running a fully ‘rendered’ universe, minds and all, when a player isn’t in the area would probably increase costs. I know I can think, feel, and, to a degree, comprehend the universe. You know you can think, feel, and, to a degree, comprehend the universe. Everyone reading this knows they can think, feel, and comprehend the universe, although none of us know for sure the others can, at least when we aren’t interacting with them. If you’re reading this while alone, we can probably say we do it even when another character isn’t present, this implies we’re more than just NPCs. If it’s a game, then you, or someone you know, are probably one of the players. (Ask your dad straight out for a joke if he’s playing a ridiculously complicated RPG.) An extension of this possibility is that this is simply a psychology experiment writ large, and I, or you, am actually a member of the creator species planted in this environment for the purposes of the experimenters. If you were the player, however, do you think you would be happy with the ‘game’ your playing now as pure recreation?
Therefore I think that if you, or me, are self-aware in a game, then we’re either doing this as a psychology experiment, or we’re side-characters for someone with a more engaging life. (Although the utility functions of any PC races are unknown.) They could be cleaners, sociopaths, or leaders, but we’d be looking primarily for people who show some degree of motivation.
The second possibility is that ‘they’ have the capabilities to generate an entire universe, or at least one solar system, down to the last atom, in cyber-space. If so, then we can only hope that we’re very much a valued experiment, and won’t be killed off like a lab rat once our immediate purpose if fulfilled.
Either way, if this is a simulation, we have no power over it, and won’t be able to gain information on it. If it’s a game, the servers could be reset, and if it’s an experiment in such detail we all exist as we think we do, but in a simulation, we could likely be programmed to forget if it suited the programmers.
Besides, if this were a simulation, then we’re presumably worthless or insane by the standards of the wider universe. Our actions have the greatest effect in a situation where our universe exists in full, and is a ‘physical’ universe, while they are all but worthless in a situation where the universe is a game. So to give the best chance of our actions mattering, we should operate under the assumption we, and everyone around us, exists.
If our universe was an artificial construct, then the potential scenarios spin out of control as we consider the possible motivations of the ‘creators’. Although the assumption may not apply in universes with different physical laws, I’ll operate on the premise that their computing power is finite.
In the first scenario, the one that normally shows up in popular science programmes referring to science fiction to entertain the audience, this is a game. If we were directly created by the ‘creators’, then we must be beings that they can conceive of, and reflect some side of their psyche. I don’t think this planet is the most interesting setting for a game I could imagine, so assuming we can reflect our creators psyches with our own biases, the only data we’ll ever get in this scenario, there are probably more perfect games for them to play. This implies they would only spend limited resources on this particular universe, and running a fully ‘rendered’ universe, minds and all, when a player isn’t in the area would probably increase costs. I know I can think, feel, and, to a degree, comprehend the universe. You know you can think, feel, and, to a degree, comprehend the universe. Everyone reading this knows they can think, feel, and comprehend the universe, although none of us know for sure the others can, at least when we aren’t interacting with them. If you’re reading this while alone, we can probably say we do it even when another character isn’t present, this implies we’re more than just NPCs. If it’s a game, then you, or someone you know, are probably one of the players. (Ask your dad straight out for a joke if he’s playing a ridiculously complicated RPG.) An extension of this possibility is that this is simply a psychology experiment writ large, and I, or you, am actually a member of the creator species planted in this environment for the purposes of the experimenters. If you were the player, however, do you think you would be happy with the ‘game’ your playing now as pure recreation?
Therefore I think that if you, or me, are self-aware in a game, then we’re either doing this as a psychology experiment, or we’re side-characters for someone with a more engaging life. (Although the utility functions of any PC races are unknown.) They could be cleaners, sociopaths, or leaders, but we’d be looking primarily for people who show some degree of motivation.
The second possibility is that ‘they’ have the capabilities to generate an entire universe, or at least one solar system, down to the last atom, in cyber-space. If so, then we can only hope that we’re very much a valued experiment, and won’t be killed off like a lab rat once our immediate purpose if fulfilled.
Either way, if this is a simulation, we have no power over it, and won’t be able to gain information on it. If it’s a game, the servers could be reset, and if it’s an experiment in such detail we all exist as we think we do, but in a simulation, we could likely be programmed to forget if it suited the programmers.
Besides, if this were a simulation, then we’re presumably worthless or insane by the standards of the wider universe. Our actions have the greatest effect in a situation where our universe exists in full, and is a ‘physical’ universe, while they are all but worthless in a situation where the universe is a game. So to give the best chance of our actions mattering, we should operate under the assumption we, and everyone around us, exists.
Also, ‘Well Done. Progress to Level 2!’