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mjs82
Majestic Lord of the Sock Puppets
Joined: Jun 21, 2005
Posts: 2186
Location: Australia
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 Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:50 pm Post subject: Its Life... But Not As We Know It |
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I watched the end of an interesting looking show the other day about time travel and how humans have tried to control time over history. Interested, I did some searching.
There's a theory that suggests that some time in the future, humans will have the technology to create a 'quantum computer'. Essentially this computer is powerful enough to perfectly simulate the past and not just this past, but millions and billions of other potential pasts. What this means in effect, is that there is a large likelihood of both you and I not actually being real, merely just players in one of countless simulations.
Is getting pinched really enough to tell you that you're awake? |
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Sarcastic_Name
Seasoned Happy Person
Joined: Mar 27, 2005
Age: 21
Posts: 3593
Location: Jax,FL,USA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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*sigh*
 Welcome to the Matrix.
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Happy, in love, and back. Don't know for how long, but I'm feeling nostalgic and wiser. |
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Lost
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 51
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:01 am Post subject: |
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I saw that program as well. It was quite interesting.
The fact that we may be just a computer simulation is plausible but since it is unprovable and does little to change reality for knowing, doesn't really bother me. |
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mikibacsi1124
Phoenix
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Joined: Aug 27, 2005
Age: 25
Posts: 667
Location: New Brunswick, NJ, USA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:10 am Post subject: |
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Wow, I actually recognized a Star Trek reference. 
That said...I'm sorry, I don't want to think about things like this. |
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DrizzleMan
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 31, 2005
Posts: 854
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:19 am Post subject: |
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Does it matter? 
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Signature quote: "I apologise in advance for the cliches." |
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hadapurpura
Phoenix
Joined: May 29, 2005
Posts: 594
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:44 am Post subject: |
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I don't know if I'm real, but I feel like I am real.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in this world, and all things and animals and plants and the rest of people are just illusions of my mind... |
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BlackLiger
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 22, 2005
Posts: 1525
Location: My Posh Leather Chair. England.
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:36 am Post subject: |
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any simulation that advanced is a universe in and of itself, so the point is moot.
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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?" |
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mjs82
Majestic Lord of the Sock Puppets
Joined: Jun 21, 2005
Posts: 2186
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| BlackLiger wrote: | | any simulation that advanced is a universe in and of itself, so the point is moot. |
I often wonder if the sims think that they're real? Maybe somewhere on Earth right now, a sim in the game is posting messages on an Asperger's forum about a computer that can simulate the universe right down to a person posting messages on an Asperger's forum.
That's almost as complex as the infinite loop Dude-Sweet Paradox. |
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WooYayHooplah
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 14, 2005
Age: 33
Posts: 1012
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:24 am Post subject: |
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Who cares if we are real or not? As long as they don't switch me off until my program completes....
if it is a real simulation then I still have free will.
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The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list. |
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vetivert
gagged, but never silent
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| i'd be very worried indeed about someone who simulated me. |
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WooYayHooplah
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 14, 2005
Age: 33
Posts: 1012
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:27 am Post subject: |
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But... I don't mind being stimulated 
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nirrti_rachelle
Go Tigers!
Joined: Jul 22, 2005
Age: 34
Posts: 1191
Location: The Dirty South
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:53 am Post subject: |
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I doubt that the Sims could ever become self aware. Most of the ones I've created are so dumb they still wet themselves.
By the way, isn't "real simulation" an oxymoron?
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WooYayHooplah
Phoenix
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Age: 33
Posts: 1012
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:27 am Post subject: |
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Real simulation is indeed an oxymoron....
I was trying to say, if a simulation was a perfect simulation (i.e. real, as in, as close to reality as reality itself) then the characters would have exactly the same quality of life as real people... so essentially, there'd be no difference to real life.
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The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list. |
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Mark
Sea Gull
Joined: Jul 26, 2005
Posts: 202
Location: www.onthespectrum.com
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:38 am Post subject: |
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| WooYayHooplah wrote: | | Who cares if we are real or not? As long as they don't switch me off until my program completes.... |
But you wouldn't know if they did switch you off... or back on again... or back off again...
A fun book on this topic is The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch. |
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WooYayHooplah
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 14, 2005
Age: 33
Posts: 1012
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Doesn't matter as long as they switch me back on.... Hey... Maybe if I do a sexy dance they will alter my program to make me win the lottery.
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The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list. |
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