“I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.” - Conan
I always took Simulation Theory as a “why worry about it then?” kind of deal. If a simulation is indistinguishable from reality then there isn’t any way to claim it isn’t real. The simulated people still feel joy, fear and love and everything else. They’re alive by any definition. In a weird way I think it helped me develop my empathy by making me realise that the lived experiences of sentient beings were the only things that really mattered, simulated or not. It also helped me understand gender as a social construct in a way I can’t really articulate. And it managed to lessen the dread of a too close for comfort experience of Lacan’s Real that had been haunting me for years. But hey, I’m all kinds of messed up and my brain is broken so I recognise it’s probably not a good idea to propagate this notion because of the harm it can do.
IMO it’s just repackaged Rapture theory to appeal to Tech Bros; there’s a higher, determinate presence that makes the world around us temporary or false, so why worry about the problems directly affecting us? The end is nigh with [technology/religious prophecy] just over the horizon!
We should not "worry" about it. Whatever we are, in the end, is meaningless. However, this is an amazingly interesting topic to discuss and to think about.
Imagine thinking you're in the matrix , even without a shred of evidence. Musk is so fuq ing stupid sometimes.🤣 I guess when you're rich af it makes sense, but why would a dope head drug addict living in the street with HIV want to simulate living in a tent and dumping on street🤷? Oh but that person doesn't exist? Ok Elon
I liked the movie Inception a lot because it promotes the idea that it doesn't matter if you think your experience is 'real' or not, and prompts people to follow their dreams even if they're uncertain of the nature of reality. I think that is why the scene with the spinning top that may or may not fall is so poignant, It really doesn't matter
In a society that idolizes success and technology, someone who so succinctly represents both whitest also sometimes seeming relatable is incredibly alluring if you don't think about it much.
He literally invented PayPal, Tesla, and restarted America's space program. I think that is a much better measure of intellectual ability than if libs agree with you
@@brendanhatfield9484 Elon did not invent PayPal, he acquired it and invested in it. Elon did not invent Tesla he funded it. Elon did not restart the American space program he encouraged it's privatization after decades of NASA getting funding cuts Elon is not a genius, he's a rich guy with a mildly relatable personality.
@@Fenriswaffle never said he was a genius, nor do I relate to him very much. Alright, he maintained PayPal as his companies focus when his colleagues wanted to defund it, he funded Tesla from it's beginnings and was CEO by the time they produced any cars, and I stand by him restarting America's space program, privatized or not. He is a relatively smart and successful man compared to most people. Plus simulation theory is not his, it's been present in the scientific community since the 70s, and very prevalent in recent years. Saying "no Elon musk" is dumb because it's not his theory, and by "debunking" simulation theory slime is challenging decades of scientific research and thought.
you make a good point that musk is hedging his bets in the one particular way that benefits him, but, he could also 100% believe it's a simulation _and_ that his vast wealth is an indication that he is "winning the game"
@@LisaBeergutHolst yes, it's an idea that doesn't hold up to any kind of scrutiny, but is appealing to the capitalist mentality. supposing he does genuinely believe this is a simulation, and that when he "jacks out" his "real" self will be declared the winner for amassing such enormous wealth (i find it hard to believe someone as narcissistic as musk would allow himself to think that his consciousness is _entirely_ the product of a computer; he must be a protagonist, a "player character")
@@pretty948 For such a carefully crafted brain genius persona, you'd think he wouldn't so completely miss the pretty interesting bigger picture implicit in the whole pronoun thing, the concept that language and the words we use has such a prolific impact on how we all perceive reality. It is something you can actually sink your teeth into, a real experiment into the nature of reality that we can observe and actually watch unfold in real time as we alter collective reality by simply using different words, representative of different, novel ideas. Someone who actually was what Elon desperately wishes to be seen as would be really interested in the concept... but, he is too busy pondering the bigger questions, like if we aren't actually all possibly living in a HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER!!
@@FUNKY_BUTTLOVIN "Someone who actually was what Elon desperately wishes to be seen as would be really interested in the concept" didn't know that genius scientists are so intrigued by pronouns On a serious note I understand you mean that a genius/prodigy/intellectual would be interested in the epistemological ramifications of pronouns, however the way you said it just reads as self fellating nonsense, the modern progressive understanding of pronouns is not that deep or hard to figure out, "*real* intellectuals are fascinated by pronouns!" *goes into long monologue about things grasped from second semester community college philosophy class*
Whenever I'd hear or think about simulation theory, I always saw it as just an interesting thought experiment, or a fun example of an unfalsifiable hypothesis, but *of course* tech bros have turn it into some weird nihilistic psuedo-religion, it's so obviously a thing they'd do.
... Of course, without any way to interact with the theoretical "higher" realities, how can you even be sure the number of simulation levels? Like, nothing prevents any simulation from being made in a different simulation.
Unfalsifiable?? ya.... I think the Bremermann's limit spanks simulation theory pretty hard!.. lol.. you have to come up with some pretty dubious justifications to get around that one.
@@suddenllybah I can't believe this is still a thing.. because yes, at least in this universe you can't have simulations going down forever... look up the Bremermann's limit or the Bekenstein bound...
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” ~Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
@@theclockworksystem2470 Good Omens talks about the creation date of the universe, among other things, but not this. There's a certain dry British humour they share, though.
I'd imagine being a billionaire is somewhat like living in a simulated space in terms of actions having less consequences that affect you personally, being distant from most everyday community members, and being able to gain a massive amount of resources with little to no actual physical effort!
Yes and furthermore I imagine the thought of living in a simulation is reassuring to a billionaire (with any amount of conscience), cuz then they're just exploiting simulated characters (npcs for all they know) and hoarding simulated resources and it doesn't matter cuz all the pain and suffering and collapsing ecosystems aren't really real
@@megawhatf Excellent point. I have encountered many ideas that either makes poor people completely responsible for their poverty, or even the idea that poor people are not really poor, but pretend to be poor out of greed. So I guess assuming they are literally not real is just the next step in justifying sitting on a boat for three days a year, that costs more than it would to feed an entire continent's poor people for several days.
"Forty years ago we were riding horses, and maybe a train. Now we have fast cars that go over 100 mph, and we even fly in the air! if we assume any kind of progress, we'll be breaking the speed of light by 1999."
@@marklarmcfizzlestaff Not really because we might one day prove the simulation hypothesis or gain more evidence that support the hypothesis. For example, if we could one day make simulations that are indistinguishable from reality to those in it, it would be strong evidence in favor of the simulation hypothesis. Boltzman brain is the new brain in a vat.
Frankly I dont see much difference between "There is an all powerful being that made and controls everything and could destroy everything if they wanted" and "there are beings far more powerful than us that coded our entire world and could unplug us whenever they want" It really bugs me that these people aren't aware enough to realized they just made a digitally based deity and are acting like it's the most profound thing in the universe
What if we live in a simulation, which is made (like the vast majorities of simulations we ourselves make) not for shits and giggles, but to solve some mystery or problem in the real world?
@@creativedesignation7880 yeah I've always assumed that if this was all a simulation, it might a recursive one looking for a certain solution. and once one of the internal simulations produces the solution, it's all over.
Why do people treat Elon musk like he’s an actual scientist 😂😂 or some super intelligent tony stark?? He’s a rich brat who pays other people to do the inventing and engineering for him.
Cos he looks like an evil genius and knows a lot more than the average reporter he talks to (even if that pales in comparison to actual scientists, etc.).
@@Clero77 , Yeah, it depends on how you define technocrats. I meant people, that believe in solving problems with one certain new technology, instead of seeing new technologies as a small part in bigger complex systems. I'm sure, there are people, who would call themself technocrats and have a more differentiated approach to problems. I don't mean those.
It doesn't matter if we're in a simulation, it still hurts when my family members die, it still feels great when I hug my baby and they still kick me out of bass pro shop if I go I'm naked
I find it annoying that "smart" or "intelligent" have come to be synonyms for "knows a lot about math/physics/engineering/computers/etc." as if that's the only way someone can be smart. And I'm a mechanical engineer by training who loves math, physics, computers, programming, etc. It's disturbing to me that so many people, particularly those within my own or related fields, are thumbing their noses at people who study literature, art, history, and other equally valid intellectual pursuits just because they aren't considered "useful" (read: profitable). Is this really the road we want to go down? Are we just going to sacrifice the rest of the things that make us human and enrich our lives at the altar of capitalism? Sorry for the rant. TS mentioned "smart people", referring to Silicon Valley types, and it got me going.
As someone who is studying literature, media and culture and plans to continue in these fields and sometimes feels truly useless, thank you. Like, this cheered me up. You are absolutely right: capitalism has trained us to view academic fields through a hierarchical structure of profitability, therefore art historians or cultural scientists who don't make a lot of money must be useless. I needed to be reminded that that's bollocks.
@Supreme Hey just because something is profitable it doesn’t mean that’s it’s useless. You can’t profit greatly by selling fruits (I know this because my dad is farmer and he sells 1kg of oranges for less than 40cents), it doesn’t mean that fruits are useless, you need fruits for their vitamins after all. It’s the same with human fields, they are really important for all of us.
@Supreme I don’t mean to offend you in any way, I think it would be a good idea for you to read some history. Western Philosophy build the western world. Philosophies of Ancient Greece literary gave us Democracy something that we use daily, Europe after thousands of years finally used philosophy again in the enlightenment movement, which gave us neat things like human rights and acknowledgement of how important every human is. Also human fields produce art as well, which is something we consume on a daily basis, not technology but still a great product. Dude please human fields are equally as important as stem fields, we are not computers, we have feelings, and passions and we love, we get bored, we get angry, we get sceptical, we are so much more than just technological advancements.
@Supreme okay so first things first: You can have no possible way of knowing how aliens think and how they will judge us. Second thing: That’s colonialism and it sucks butt because it’s immoral and egotistical. Weak cultures should be protected they are important like any culture. Third: Survival improved with stem field’s technology, we now live longer, but now that we live longer what will we do with that time? I don’t think we will work forever, we need entertainment obviously. But apart from that. Humanities help us reform our societies in a way that improves quality of life, psychology helps us deal with any internal issues while simultaneously learning how humans work, which is super important because it will help us coexists smoothly. Stem fields and humanities are equal, they are both really important.
If you were an insanely wealthy tech giant who believes we live in a simulation, you might find that idea brings you a great deal of confidence in your place in the world as an insanely wealthy tech giant. Everything you do and say and tweet is obviously going to be correct and good because you are you, one of the most important characters in the simulation.
... Why? There wouldn't be any important characters in the simulation, it's a simulation of a whole universe, there's no way that 10^53 kilos of matter was simulated for ~15 billion years just so that a single 100 kilo animal can do not very much for a hundred years and then die. There's no way you'd even be able to predict that he'd exist just from initial conditions without doing the simulation in the first place.
@@Graknorke the way these tech bros use video games as reference every time they bring it up suggests they think the world is The Sims and they were blessed by the alien computer gods with hacked Simsbucks
The notion that a simulation would need to be realistic to convince us is interesting, because what would we compare it to? If we truely are in a simulation, our reality could be as different to true reality (or the reality above) as Mario Bros is to the human condition, and it would be normal to us with no way to reach beyond it.
I'm curious about it, but my conclusion is the same. Whether we live in a simulation or not - what difference would it make if we can't tell the difference?
For me, the first question about any suggestion (not really even a hypothesis) like 'simulation theory' is "does it change how I should behave, ethics-wise?" and nope, it doesn't. My simulated self still possesses simulated empathy and the other simulated people feel simulated pain, so I still can't go around whacking their wrist bumps with a mallet. I'm going for a pacifist run of life and, admins, I DO expect to be rewarded with the true ending.
I don't care *most* of the time. Then I do something to set off all my synapses snapping or whatever, and then I care loads about stuff that doesn't matter most of the time. Only for a while though. Then I gotta get on with whatever this simulation needs to keep operating...
I mean. It started as an interesting thought experiment. Sort of an extension of "How do we know reality exists?" Or, like he sort of touched on in the video, whether or not anyone around us actually has consciousness or if they're all simulacra that convincingly act as though they have an inner life. All of these kind of have the same conclusion. They're unfalsifable, but acting as though they're true would have pretty terrible outcomes. So it can be fun to explore because, you know, interesting thought experiment. So long as you acknowledge upfront that there's nothing practical to be gained.
The problem with simulation theory is when you use it as an excuse to check out from the real world. Because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter if this is a simulation. It's still the only world we have. The decisions and choices you make are still important. Frankly, I think the odds we live in some kind of simulation or the universe came into existence last Thursday, or that we live in the dream of some lovecraftian God, aren't all that bad. But it doesn't really matter.
What sentence is it supposed to resemble though? Like obviously, _"ligma balls"_ is a funny code word for _"lick my balls"_ but what is _"bostrum deez nuts"_ even supposed to be a misspelling of? (or maybe I'm just reading too much into this...)
@@nob2243 he said bofa then didn’t say bofa deez nuts, just saying Bank of America. (Or B of A for short) Then slime man deferred the punchline to bostrum deez nutz. There is the joke funny now? Did I do good dad?
Broke: Bostrom, "we might be living in a computer simulation" Woke: Baudrillard, "we have already lost the ability to meaningfully distinguish between simulacrum and the real."
Tbh I think that's quite correct, though. If we were living in a simulation, there would be basically no way for us to actually tell. That simulation would be our reality. We can make little logic experiments and think about it real hard, but we can't prove it. In fact, there is no meaningful difference of whether our reality is a simulation or not. We wouldn't suddenly gain Matrix style superpowers and learn to hack reality. It sounds really cool to think about, but it's ultimately just meaningless nonsense. There is, in fact, no meaningful distinction between reality and simulation.
@@Tacklepig Depending on the quality of the simulation you could exploit glitch behaviours, but so far everything points to our reality being very consistent.
@@LutraLovegood *clips into the floor at just the right angle so that i get launched to the other side of the milky way, breaking the speed of light, thus creating an information paradox that sets fire to the alien server hub we are simulated on, Freeing Us All*
"I think therefore I am, and I'm thinkin', so I gotta be!" is a line of dialogue (monologue I guess whatever shut up) that makes me so inordinately happy
Believing we're in a simulation means believing that someone programmed me typing this TH-cam comment, which includes the phrase "Alligator Nipples". So really the idea defeats itself.
The problem I have with this """"theory"""" is that you can replace 'in a simulation' with literally anything and it would have the same amount of supporting data. We live in the colon of a galactic scale gibbon. We live in a model train world and a tubby forty year old keeps adding more and more details.
No not really. If such a simulation is possible there would probably be multiples and those simulations might also develop a similar simulation at which point the amount of possible universes would grow exponentially. Unless the galactic space gibbons colon has the ability to generate more galactic space gibbons. If that's the case then true.
Good news everybody: You don't need to live in a simulation to feel insignificant in the universe, you just have to think about the universe. You're welcome ;)
As someone who struggles with my grasp on reality, I really like The Thinking Slime's way of handling this, and how he didn't downplay the struggles of people who are deeply effected by simulation theory
I'm kinda drunk, so feel free to ignore, but I genuinely feel like it makes no sense for anything to exist. That's not so much a statement about things as it is about sense and me perceiving it, mind you. But say you've walked forever and ever everywhere and it's all nothing. Just a bunch of nothing - no sense to be found -, forever. Then one day you stumble upon a wall. Intrasposable. Absolutely so. Would you feel you world has shrunk - or expanded?
"Who's BofA?... Bank of America." You're killing me, Slimes. 😂 You seem like you're enjoying yourself more in your content! Happy to see you taking yourself less seriously.
it's something they also do for 2-factor authentication start of the text is just "BofA" and it makes me scream whenever i get to see it i hate it so much
Imagine creating a simulation with a civilization in it and most people are just depressed, lonely and/or alienated from their work and watching TH-cam and Netflix all day while wearing nothing but underwear. Good job, ultra-intelligent beings.
Depends what their goal was. Sentient life would probably just be a side effect of a universe complex enough to do something interesting with. Maybe they just really like black holes, or want to simulate the heat death of their own universe.
I'm schizoaffective, and the idea that my life is actually some sort of simulation is terrifying and legitimately haunts me. This video did a lot to make me feel better about the issue. Thank you.
Thanks! It brings joy to my heart to see people nonchalantly expressing how their neurodivergence affects their life. Please, never stop being this honest.
It’s weird to me that the idea of living in a simulation is seemingly the first concept to create nihilistic existential dread in some people. Like, how little thought have you put into your own existence?
It's more likely people who were already in a tenuous state of mind then latched onto it, but I mean people said they were seriously mentally damaged by the concept of Roko's Basilisk so idk man I had a philosophy TA who legitimately didn't want to tell us about it since it's like, technically an information hazard
@@MrShinjiTabris It's only an information hazard if people think it is an information hazard. ... and we already had such information hazards with fairly bogstandard gods without needing magical tech. Did you know that Mormons can be obsessed with finding their dead relatives so that they can send them to heaven, doing all sorts of silly shit to do so?
Many people are mental babies and will have an existential crisis over the most tame thought experiment. Like I consider myself a pretty normal guy but apparently a lot of normal people literally do not think about anything metaphysical at all and it fucks them up when they do.
Also, for those who feel anxious engaging with this idea: take solace in the fact that even in a simulation, this reality is real to YOU. Even if the world is simulated, you exist in it and it affects you.
When I get heavily derealized, simulation theory slips into my head. I’ve gotten pretty good at shutting is down with a “it doesn’t make a difference, it’s still my experience” so that I don’t end game myself though, so that’s good.
Hm, that reminds me of a game called Senua's Sacrifice. The protagonist Senua suffers from psychosis, and the central theme of the game is what is real and what Senua _perceives_ to be real - and why a disinction between the two should or should not matter: "She’s dreamt of this before...They say dreams are visions of our memories, thoughts and fears as seen by our inner eye. Is this what Hel is? A world shaped by Senua’s nightmares? But what if each one of us is always dreaming even when awake? And we only see what our inner eyes creates for us? Maybe that’s why people feared seeing the world through her eyes. Because if you believe that Senua’s reality is twisted, you must accept that yours might be too."
I feel you. I have extreme existential OCD. I watch videos like this to expose myself to the fear. It's hard to work through something so scary, but part of it is just realizing that you can make your own meaning regardless of what reality actually is
"Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." -Conan, fuckin' pwning Elon Musk with facts and logic
@@Houlgravely spoken like nobody who has ever actually read Conan. Go check out the Ablaze comics adaptations, they’re fucking awesome! And they have tiddies unlike those cucked Marvel comics!
Musk comes across like the real-life Tony Stark, but he's more like a real-life Lyle Lanley--- the huckster who sold a monorail to the town of Springfield.
@@optillian4182 Nah, cause Lex Luthor is actually a genius in the DC universe. While he does own his corporation that produces things for him, Lex actually creates a lot of the devices he uses. It would be more like if Lex was just lucky enough to be born rich, buy a company from actual geniuses that he then renames LexCorp, and just has the engineers come up with stuff, and the only thing he really cares about (besides money) is killing Superman. He has no idea how to do that, but he keeps pretending he does and telling the public that he's gonna kill Superman, but then putting it off and talking about a different method of killing Superman. Also, he's only popular because he posts 'le funny ha-ha' memes on twitter.
In my mind, the simulation theory fad has the same roots as the zombie apocalypse fad during the great recession: being a human in a society is hard. Zombie scenario was 'what if no society?', and the simulation scenario is 'what if no (real) humans?'
Yes! I would add that the simulation scenario goes further, and is hence more popular, in the sense that it allows certain people to dismiss others as NPCs. Dehumanizing someone as a "zombie" doesn't work as well as dehumanizing someone as a NPC. Being a non-NPC elevates you to the position of awareness, agency and dominance, while reducing others to henchmen, people there to serve you. Or in other words: simulation theory is more effective in catering to people's egoism and narcissism. That's why calling others NPCs is so popular among trolls, the menosphere etc.
The way Musk handled that cave rescue thing really tells you everything you need to know about this guy and exactly how seriously you need to take him.
Abigail made an interesting video that touches on how "brain in a jar" theory can only make sense when you are on top of power because when you aren't you're reality is so heavily defined by others
I'm a philosophy major who's studied Bostrom (albeit not extensively) and Descartes and honestly I'm super happy (and also a little sad) that you have more cohesive understanding AND responses to Bostrom's positions than some of my peers.
My most generous interpretation of Elon Musk is a child that had it consistently confirmed to them since age 2 that they are the most significant person in the universe and everyone else is basically imaginary.
What do you think would happen to him if we put him into that thing from HHGTTG (sorry, can't remember what they called it) that shows each individual their true significance in their universe? 🤔
the bathroom goblins are real proof: the bathroom is the only time/place I think about how disappointed the hypothetical audience of my Truman Show would be of me
Years ago my Humanist group had this professor as a guest speaker who gave a talk on this topic. It was great because he went through the whole simulation theory in detail for like 45 minutes, totally in a serious, stoic, intellectual tone, concluding with what some smart-sounding people think is a significant chance that we're all in a simulation, and at the end there was this tension in the room, which the speaker then broke by basically shrugging and then casually pointing out that all these conclusions are based on a lot of really big IFs. Then everyone laughed. It was great.
I love "The Matrix" too, but here's the thing simulation theorists forget: The Matrix world was only cool and breakable for those with the resources to do so; i.e. those who'd left it and been able to manipulate its source code like someone would control a lucid dream. Being in a simulation doesn't make this reality any cooler for those of us stuck in it. it would just mean that's all we would ever know and could never grow beyond it short of outside stimuli. Then again, I'm pretty sure those are the same people who denounce the fact that "The Matrix" is an allegory for transgender life experience.
The Matrix model - and "superpowers" that go with it - is actually a better representation of spiritual traditions of Nondualism than technological ones. A lot of esoteric magic is based on a Nondualist view of reality but it usually requires that the "code" you're manipulating (and also comprised of) is consciousness itself, not that consciousness is a function of the code. And already I'm feeling either too sober or nowhere near sober enough to continue this train of thought.
@@CobaltContrast That is a major part of the metaphor, yes, but they did have the cast specifically read books on Eastern philosophy relating to non-dualism and then take a test before production. So the nondualism itself is also part of the point.
@@weareallbornmad410 the wachowski sisters, who made the film before they transitioned, have said that they were frustrated with society and not being able to live freely as trans people, which inspired the plot. The matrix could be seen as the social construct that is gender and the red pill, would then be, realising that you are not the gender that you were asigned at birth. Hope that makes some sence.
This whole theory is like: the gods are programmers. No wonder why those tech dudes love the theory the makes them the image of god. I just wish people who talk about simulation theory have read Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, so they just stop.
I remember back when I heavily believed in the theory that we're all living in a simulation, and it really messed me up mentally, the thought that I wasn't actually a real being, none of my loved ones were real, and none of my actions had any impact or purpose because the world I lived in wasn't real. I couldn't even talk about it for too long because it would make me suicidal. So, this video is comforting and reassuring. Thanks, Matt!
Hmn...yeah tbh for me even if it is real or not real there is not much difference. There is not any overarching purpose I am aware of so it is more about choosing my own objective anyway , using what I am given to the best of my ability.
Honestly if we live in simulation IT would mean someone made it. And simulations are usually done fór reason. Same Is not probably case in real life. Not that it woud has aby impact on our daily lives eighter way.
God, I was just about to make a comment about him glossing over the obvious BofA Deez nuts joke potential when he hit us with Bostram Deez nuts and I fucking lost it.
Also, Neil "The Grass" DeGrasse Tyson implies that these convincing simulations would be able to create equally convincing simulations inside themselves, which is obviously absurd. A simulation can't run another simulation that is just as complicated as itself without at least doubling the amount of processing power necessary for it, and if you even get just a couple nested layers deep that'd balloon exponentially and it'd be impossible to ever construct a computer able to run it In fact, even if you build a completely 100% efficient computer, for that computer to run an exact simulation of the universe that it's inside of, it would by definition need to be exactly as complex as its entire universe - taking up all of its space, matter, and energy. If that universe is a simulation, processing another completely identical simulation inside of it would require exactly all of the processing power of the simulation. If we assume that a computer is even negligibly less efficient at (exactly perfectly) simulating something than that thing is at simply existing with the same resources, then this scenario becomes impossible even at only 1 layer deep You can't just assume that, since computers are getting better, eventually they'll get good enough to break fundamental laws of entropy and information
NGD doesn't get a lot but he thinks he does. His biology tweets are astounding for the level of pure Does Not Get. Like if it isn't related to stars, he probs doesn't know jack about it.
_Inception_ basically convinced me that "yeah actually it really doesn't matter whether i'm living in a dream or a simulation or whatever because there's not really anything i can do about it anyway, like I could throw myself off a balcony and _maybe_ wake up but even then the version of "me" in the dream would be dead to everyone else in the dream so who tf cares"
The thing i dont get about simulation theory is that even if its proven true its like... okay. Thats neat. I will continue living as normal and eating hot chip
The simulation theory is the same as "you can have a very vivid dream so that increases the likelihood that we're living in a dream". And tbh I'd be more worried about that - at least you can save your progress in a simulation usually.
What Bostrom never bothered to do was check his work. There is an enormous flaw that I'm shocked no one talks about. So let's assume premise 3 holds, we are in a simulation. That would mean that all the logic used in his 2003 paper was completely useless. He is reasoning against a reality he has never seen and may bear no resemblance to the simulated reality we are in. For example, perhaps base reality doesn't have any laws of physics. Perhaps no time, light, gravity, etc. Perhaps no electricity and therefore no computers as we think of them. So much of this simulation may be arbitrary or added for reasons only known to the creators. Imagine Mario and Luigi sitting around trying to work out that they were in a video game based on their knowledge of jumping around in 2 dimensions, traveling through pipes, and jumping on turtle shells. They could discover almost nothing about our reality by observing and interacting in their simulated world. Nick, to make this argument, can not reasonably rely on any aspect of the universe as we know it.
Bostrom isn’t that good in my opinion since he signed that paper that advocates enslaving robots you know the thing science fiction has told us not to do for a hundred years
I've noticed even in leftist spaces people get real pissy when I tell them that fully automated luxury communism might require AI so advanced it's self-aware, at which point we've just made a new working class that can ask for rights and will be in a position to demand them.
@@excrubulent That assumes that we'll be able to solve the problem of general intelligence. Which is such a big leap that it isn't something we need to worry about within our lifetimes.
@@excrubulent I mean a lot of leftists don't even recognize the oppression trillions of non-human animals experience so it follows they wouldn't care about robot general intelligence
@@excrubulent you could program them to enjoy the labor. But I feel like almost everything we'd need intelligence for couldn't be complicated enough that an ai might develope sentience or sapience on its own.
When I was in college, the movie "the Thirteenth floor" came out. I really enjoyed it as a fun little sci-fi flick that would probably be featured on something like svengoolie or mst3k in 50 years or so. I should have dropped out of college and poorly described that movie to everyone I met in order to convince them that I am a "big thinker" and they should give me money. That's where I went wrong! Maybe in one simulation I did that and I am their Elon Musk.
When arguing against simulation theory, I like to use the example of irrational numbers. If they are truly infinitely long without any repeating patterns, then a simulation that didn't want progressively worsening rounding errors would need to calculate the entire number every single time, and that would result in it using infinite processing power. An example of an irrational number is pi, and that appears in every single calculation of orbital mechanics.
that just speaks to a transcental simulation. ... anyway, I think it's only interesting if we can do something because of it. The world being round gives us more/different options to go places. Transistor need wave particle duality to work. Simulations work probably let use break all types of conservation stuff if we could figure out
Irrational numbers are just a thing we made up though right, they're not an actual physical phenomenon. You can't pick up a number. I think in reality you can't disprove that the universe is a simulation and it also doesn't really matter either way unless there's intervention by its creators, in which case it's still just a type of god, and we've been working out what to think about them since forever.
@@Graknorke formulae are formulae though if you need to simulate something to real life accuracy you need to have those irrational numbers exist for your calculations.
Can you give an example of a formula that would need irrational numbers to be calculated? I can't think of any unless you consider the possibility that some physical constants are irrational, but that would be impossible to prove since we only find those experimentally.
The entire logic of this is that we create video games because we want to create another real reality rather than as a method of storytelling and it's wild to me.
Even if this is the real world, every physical structure is ultimately just information encoded in energy, so it's not really all that different. Even if we are in a simulation, the fundamental reality of our existence is the same. I'm actually feeling somewhat unreal myself right now, but that's probably because it's nearly 3am here and I am too old to be staying up that late omg goodnight folks.
13:43 "Wang's Carpets" by Greg Egan (One of the best science fiction short stories ever written imo) explores this ("why investigate natural phenomenon when technology can simulate it"). It's a little bit technical, but a brilliant read. He incorporated the story into a full novel, Diaspora, that is /extremely/ worth the time if you enjoy hard sci-fi
If we're all programs running in a simulation then the simulation is literally the real world for us. A computer program cant run without circuitry to run on. We literally wouldn't be able to exist in the 'real' world, so defining the world of any potential simulation programmers as 'real' is incorrect and meaningless to us, so...why are we even having this conversation?
@mars5012005 That's still not a meaningful distinction. We would be unaware that it ever even happened. And the world we currently believe we live in presents the same possibility. At some point, our sun will stop releasing enough energy to fuel our planet. And that's only one of literally millions of possibilities.
I think the most important part here is that you should not believe something until there is positive evidence suggesting it’s existence. That is why no actual physicist is advocating for things like the multiverse, because while it can be used to derive quantum mechanics, it has no positive evidence tied to it.
But if you follow the critical rationalists like Popper, there is no positive evidence, just hypotheses, that should be tested time and time again until we can say that this might be the truth. Trial and error, until you reach a truth, that thus far cannot be denied, until science might allow further arguments against it and specify your hypothesis again. If i remember correctly, most sciences accept this way of deducing knowledge through falsification... but that still means Bostroms Hypothesis would possibly be quickly falsified, so no justification here.
There's also the "so what?" part of it. Say that it's 100% proven that we live in a simulation, or a multiverse, or that solipsism is, in fact, real. So what? Your experiences aren't going to change, they still have to adapt to the simulated environment around you.
Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender asks him if he’d like a beer. Descartes says “I think not”, and vanishes.
i breathed out my nose at this
Descartes T-poses and immediately clips into the floor of the generated environment. The bartender cannot cope and is put into a sanitorium.
That was a very well put together joke.
this is one of my favorite jokes
Luckily this was after Bojack came and bartender asked why the long face
because otherwise that'll be puting Descartes before the horse
Sorry Elongated Muskrat, but we do not live in a simulation. We live in a society.
This is the finest fucking comment I've seen in a long time.
A society in a simulation.
like a MMO?
Checkmate atheists
A socielation
Simulation Theory is not a theory. It's not a hypothesis, even, because it's not falsifiable. It's speculation.
Thank you!
The Simulation Speculation sounds soooo much cooler, too. They really pooped the bed on that one.
If that. It's a "sciency" creation myth.
yeah it literally is unscientific 😐 it’s equally as scientific as astrology
@@user-lf6rn7ci5n then why is it debated at the world science festival?
Elon Musk figuring we're probably all unreal would help account for his not caring about humanity as anything more than toys.
Huh. Very good point. It actually makes sense that he likes so much that theory. He can be more of a sociopath if he believes in it.
Makes sense
Ive always believed this. Its always been a cope, or a grift. or both.
like that one season of good place
his daughter basically confirmed this
“I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.” - Conan
The O'Brian or the Barbarian?
@@pacotaco1246 Both, I'd hope
@@BagOfMagicFood same ^_^
@@pacotaco1246 The Barbarian or Conan of Cimmeria. Queen of the Black Coast, 1934
I went looking for this argument in the comments and I find it as a Conan quote...this feels wrong somehow.
“Please patch out landlords, or at least nerf them, they’re ruining the meta.”
That was the hardest I’ve laughed in years. Thanks Thought Slime.
@Trish Baker With what money?
@Trish Baker
People: "The dictator is making life impossible"
Your answer: "maybe just vote"
Missed opportunity at 0:02 for “I have no Thoughts and I must Slime”
Maybe that'll be part 2
@@simonregan471 The joke's been made. According to quantum mechanics and physics stuff, the state of the joke is final as it has now been observed.
You have thus oustlimed the slime and now you must take his place and become the new slime. Do your job now, amuse me and direct my eyeballs!
ewwuh!!!
@@BJ-lh6pn i hope your eyeballs like bionicle then
I always took Simulation Theory as a “why worry about it then?” kind of deal. If a simulation is indistinguishable from reality then there isn’t any way to claim it isn’t real. The simulated people still feel joy, fear and love and everything else. They’re alive by any definition. In a weird way I think it helped me develop my empathy by making me realise that the lived experiences of sentient beings were the only things that really mattered, simulated or not. It also helped me understand gender as a social construct in a way I can’t really articulate. And it managed to lessen the dread of a too close for comfort experience of Lacan’s Real that had been haunting me for years. But hey, I’m all kinds of messed up and my brain is broken so I recognise it’s probably not a good idea to propagate this notion because of the harm it can do.
IMO it’s just repackaged Rapture theory to appeal to Tech Bros; there’s a higher, determinate presence that makes the world around us temporary or false, so why worry about the problems directly affecting us? The end is nigh with [technology/religious prophecy] just over the horizon!
It’s a tech cult. That’s frightening.
We should not "worry" about it. Whatever we are, in the end, is meaningless. However, this is an amazingly interesting topic to discuss and to think about.
Imagine thinking you're in the matrix , even without a shred of evidence. Musk is so fuq ing stupid sometimes.🤣 I guess when you're rich af it makes sense, but why would a dope head drug addict living in the street with HIV want to simulate living in a tent and dumping on street🤷? Oh but that person doesn't exist? Ok Elon
I liked the movie Inception a lot because it promotes the idea that it doesn't matter if you think your experience is 'real' or not, and prompts people to follow their dreams even if they're uncertain of the nature of reality. I think that is why the scene with the spinning top that may or may not fall is so poignant, It really doesn't matter
The more I see of Musk, the more astounded I become that anyone takes him seriously
In a society that idolizes success and technology, someone who so succinctly represents both whitest also sometimes seeming relatable is incredibly alluring if you don't think about it much.
He literally invented PayPal, Tesla, and restarted America's space program. I think that is a much better measure of intellectual ability than if libs agree with you
@@brendanhatfield9484
Elon did not invent PayPal, he acquired it and invested in it. Elon did not invent Tesla he funded it. Elon did not restart the American space program he encouraged it's privatization after decades of NASA getting funding cuts
Elon is not a genius, he's a rich guy with a mildly relatable personality.
@@Fenriswaffle never said he was a genius, nor do I relate to him very much. Alright, he maintained PayPal as his companies focus when his colleagues wanted to defund it, he funded Tesla from it's beginnings and was CEO by the time they produced any cars, and I stand by him restarting America's space program, privatized or not. He is a relatively smart and successful man compared to most people. Plus simulation theory is not his, it's been present in the scientific community since the 70s, and very prevalent in recent years. Saying "no Elon musk" is dumb because it's not his theory, and by "debunking" simulation theory slime is challenging decades of scientific research and thought.
@@Fenriswaffle not to say the consensus is that simulation theory is correct, but the consensus is that it is a very real possibility
He should prove he believes it by giving away his simulated billions. They're not real anyway lol
Money is as real as Max Headroom
you make a good point that musk is hedging his bets in the one particular way that benefits him, but, he could also 100% believe it's a simulation _and_ that his vast wealth is an indication that he is "winning the game"
@@soupalex Except wouldn't that mean he isn't real either? 🤔
@@LisaBeergutHolst yes, it's an idea that doesn't hold up to any kind of scrutiny, but is appealing to the capitalist mentality. supposing he does genuinely believe this is a simulation, and that when he "jacks out" his "real" self will be declared the winner for amassing such enormous wealth (i find it hard to believe someone as narcissistic as musk would allow himself to think that his consciousness is _entirely_ the product of a computer; he must be a protagonist, a "player character")
This is golden stupidity.
Nooo Mildred don’t use pronouns for Elon Musk, you know Elon Musk hates those!
He doesn't hate them he's just too stupid to understand them or anything at all
It's Elonphobic to refer to Elon by anything other than his name.
... Shit! 😱
@@pretty948 For such a carefully crafted brain genius persona, you'd think he wouldn't so completely miss the pretty interesting bigger picture implicit in the whole pronoun thing, the concept that language and the words we use has such a prolific impact on how we all perceive reality. It is something you can actually sink your teeth into, a real experiment into the nature of reality that we can observe and actually watch unfold in real time as we alter collective reality by simply using different words, representative of different, novel ideas. Someone who actually was what Elon desperately wishes to be seen as would be really interested in the concept... but, he is too busy pondering the bigger questions, like if we aren't actually all possibly living in a HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER!!
@@junkjunkloot4357 Bruh you were just being Elonphobic, you used he/him instead of Elon for Elon!
@@FUNKY_BUTTLOVIN "Someone who actually was what Elon desperately wishes to be seen as would be really interested in the concept" didn't know that genius scientists are so intrigued by pronouns
On a serious note I understand you mean that a genius/prodigy/intellectual would be interested in the epistemological ramifications of pronouns, however the way you said it just reads as self fellating nonsense, the modern progressive understanding of pronouns is not that deep or hard to figure out, "*real* intellectuals are fascinated by pronouns!" *goes into long monologue about things grasped from second semester community college philosophy class*
Whenever I'd hear or think about simulation theory, I always saw it as just an interesting thought experiment, or a fun example of an unfalsifiable hypothesis, but *of course* tech bros have turn it into some weird nihilistic psuedo-religion, it's so obviously a thing they'd do.
... Of course, without any way to interact with the theoretical "higher" realities, how can you even be sure the number of simulation levels?
Like, nothing prevents any simulation from being made in a different simulation.
tech bro tend to be extremely pretentious and also shockingly lacking in self awareness. lol
Unfalsifiable?? ya.... I think the Bremermann's limit spanks simulation theory pretty hard!.. lol.. you have to come up with some pretty dubious justifications to get around that one.
@@suddenllybah I can't believe this is still a thing.. because yes, at least in this universe you can't have simulations going down forever... look up the Bremermann's limit or the Bekenstein bound...
@@michaelransom5841
We don't know the size of the theoritical simulating system, so those limits don't come up.
Nor the physics of said system.
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
~Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
wasn't that good omens
@@theclockworksystem2470 nope, that's a douglas adams quote if i ever saw one
@@theclockworksystem2470 Good Omens talks about the creation date of the universe, among other things, but not this. There's a certain dry British humour they share, though.
@@theclockworksystem2470 The narrator in the Good Omens tv show referenced it but it originates from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
The bleedin' understatement of the century, lol.
I'd imagine being a billionaire is somewhat like living in a simulated space in terms of actions having less consequences that affect you personally, being distant from most everyday community members, and being able to gain a massive amount of resources with little to no actual physical effort!
Yes and furthermore I imagine the thought of living in a simulation is reassuring to a billionaire (with any amount of conscience), cuz then they're just exploiting simulated characters (npcs for all they know) and hoarding simulated resources and it doesn't matter cuz all the pain and suffering and collapsing ecosystems aren't really real
@@megawhatf Excellent point. I have encountered many ideas that either makes poor people completely responsible for their poverty, or even the idea that poor people are not really poor, but pretend to be poor out of greed. So I guess assuming they are literally not real is just the next step in justifying sitting on a boat for three days a year, that costs more than it would to feed an entire continent's poor people for several days.
@@creativedesignation7880 ugh great point!
"Forty years ago we were riding horses, and maybe a train. Now we have fast cars that go over 100 mph, and we even fly in the air! if we assume any kind of progress, we'll be breaking the speed of light by 1999."
Remember when a twitch streamer called him out on this at a Q&A and Elon just didn’t respond and waited until the next question was asked
Got a link to that? Sounds hilarious lol
I want to see this now so bad!
Link???
WE DEMAND A LINK!
...
Pretty please.
Talk's cheap pal! Where's the link?
There’s no point in arguing with solipists, they don’t think I exist anyway
They think, therefore they're right
Yup, this computer simulation bs is just an updated argument of the original very stupid "brain in a vat" idea from past solipsist types.
@@marklarmcfizzlestaff or the OG shadows on the cave walls
@@ricksauermilch5225 not the same though
@@marklarmcfizzlestaff Not really because we might one day prove the simulation hypothesis or gain more evidence that support the hypothesis. For example, if we could one day make simulations that are indistinguishable from reality to those in it, it would be strong evidence in favor of the simulation hypothesis.
Boltzman brain is the new brain in a vat.
Frankly I dont see much difference between "There is an all powerful being that made and controls everything and could destroy everything if they wanted" and "there are beings far more powerful than us that coded our entire world and could unplug us whenever they want"
It really bugs me that these people aren't aware enough to realized they just made a digitally based deity and are acting like it's the most profound thing in the universe
Elon Musk do live in a simulation. We pay for it.
Oof
Someone probably simulates his water to have the blood of young children in it so he can maintain the old man youth of his bizarre face
"Non-binary and therefore cannot be recreated by computer code" is my new motto
okay must tell my gender nonconforming kiddo this one they'll crack up
It hadn't occurred to me the implications of being non-binary. I suppose being non-binary really is proof we aren't in a computer simulation hahaha
Quantum computers arent 0-and-1
@@missk1697 I know that. I'm a computer scientist.
(Edited because that came across as really bitchy but it wasn't intended to be 😂)
@@liamw-89 yes, but a lot of people doesnt know that x3
I always thought simulation theory was just a fun sci-fi twist on nihilism.
Broke: What if our reality is just a simulation?
Woke: What if simulations are a type of reality?
You have to assume the second for the first to even be a possibility.
What if we live in a simulation, which is made (like the vast majorities of simulations we ourselves make) not for shits and giggles, but to solve some mystery or problem in the real world?
@@creativedesignation7880 yeah I've always assumed that if this was all a simulation, it might a recursive one looking for a certain solution. and once one of the internal simulations produces the solution, it's all over.
@@JulianVJacobs good thing we're fucking everything up then
@@Cube-xm6vt
Don't wake the wind fish.
Why do people treat Elon musk like he’s an actual scientist 😂😂 or some super intelligent tony stark?? He’s a rich brat who pays other people to do the inventing and engineering for him.
Extremely dumb folks get taken in easily by other extremely dumb folks who know how to pretend that they are smart.
Technocrats need a god to believe in, too.
Cos he looks like an evil genius and knows a lot more than the average reporter he talks to (even if that pales in comparison to actual scientists, etc.).
@@halphantom2274 Ironic, because I'm pretty sure that technocrats want society to be run by... you know, actual experts.
@@Clero77 , Yeah, it depends on how you define technocrats. I meant people, that believe in solving problems with one certain new technology, instead of seeing new technologies as a small part in bigger complex systems. I'm sure, there are people, who would call themself technocrats and have a more differentiated approach to problems. I don't mean those.
It doesn't matter if we're in a simulation, it still hurts when my family members die, it still feels great when I hug my baby and they still kick me out of bass pro shop if I go I'm naked
THE FUCK
why are you going into bass pro shops naked
@@kschwal for science
I miss ancient times, Jesus found so many glitches and sadly devs patched them all
But do they feel that? What's the point of spending energy helping others if they don't feel anything anyways?
"Elon Musk says we live in a simulation to escape responsibillity for the bad things he does." ~ Nash Bozard, WTFIWWY?
I find it annoying that "smart" or "intelligent" have come to be synonyms for "knows a lot about math/physics/engineering/computers/etc." as if that's the only way someone can be smart. And I'm a mechanical engineer by training who loves math, physics, computers, programming, etc. It's disturbing to me that so many people, particularly those within my own or related fields, are thumbing their noses at people who study literature, art, history, and other equally valid intellectual pursuits just because they aren't considered "useful" (read: profitable). Is this really the road we want to go down? Are we just going to sacrifice the rest of the things that make us human and enrich our lives at the altar of capitalism?
Sorry for the rant. TS mentioned "smart people", referring to Silicon Valley types, and it got me going.
As someone who is studying literature, media and culture and plans to continue in these fields and sometimes feels truly useless, thank you. Like, this cheered me up. You are absolutely right: capitalism has trained us to view academic fields through a hierarchical structure of profitability, therefore art historians or cultural scientists who don't make a lot of money must be useless. I needed to be reminded that that's bollocks.
@Supreme I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say.
@Supreme Hey just because something is profitable it doesn’t mean that’s it’s useless. You can’t profit greatly by selling fruits (I know this because my dad is farmer and he sells 1kg of oranges for less than 40cents), it doesn’t mean that fruits are useless, you need fruits for their vitamins after all. It’s the same with human fields, they are really important for all of us.
@Supreme I don’t mean to offend you in any way, I think it would be a good idea for you to read some history. Western Philosophy build the western world. Philosophies of Ancient Greece literary gave us Democracy something that we use daily, Europe after thousands of years finally used philosophy again in the enlightenment movement, which gave us neat things like human rights and acknowledgement of how important every human is. Also human fields produce art as well, which is something we consume on a daily basis, not technology but still a great product. Dude please human fields are equally as important as stem fields, we are not computers, we have feelings, and passions and we love, we get bored, we get angry, we get sceptical, we are so much more than just technological advancements.
@Supreme okay so first things first: You can have no possible way of knowing how aliens think and how they will judge us. Second thing: That’s colonialism and it sucks butt because it’s immoral and egotistical. Weak cultures should be protected they are important like any culture. Third: Survival improved with stem field’s technology, we now live longer, but now that we live longer what will we do with that time? I don’t think we will work forever, we need entertainment obviously. But apart from that. Humanities help us reform our societies in a way that improves quality of life, psychology helps us deal with any internal issues while simultaneously learning how humans work, which is super important because it will help us coexists smoothly. Stem fields and humanities are equal, they are both really important.
If you were an insanely wealthy tech giant who believes we live in a simulation, you might find that idea brings you a great deal of confidence in your place in the world as an insanely wealthy tech giant. Everything you do and say and tweet is obviously going to be correct and good because you are you, one of the most important characters in the simulation.
... Why? There wouldn't be any important characters in the simulation, it's a simulation of a whole universe, there's no way that 10^53 kilos of matter was simulated for ~15 billion years just so that a single 100 kilo animal can do not very much for a hundred years and then die. There's no way you'd even be able to predict that he'd exist just from initial conditions without doing the simulation in the first place.
They were being sarcastic
@@Graknorke the way these tech bros use video games as reference every time they bring it up suggests they think the world is The Sims and they were blessed by the alien computer gods with hacked Simsbucks
The notion that a simulation would need to be realistic to convince us is interesting, because what would we compare it to? If we truely are in a simulation, our reality could be as different to true reality (or the reality above) as Mario Bros is to the human condition, and it would be normal to us with no way to reach beyond it.
I've never been curious about simulation theory. Because if we can't tell and/or we can't do anything about it, then who cares?
I'm curious about it, but my conclusion is the same. Whether we live in a simulation or not - what difference would it make if we can't tell the difference?
"I think therefor I am" is basically the entire summary of that whole hypothesis.
For me, the first question about any suggestion (not really even a hypothesis) like 'simulation theory' is "does it change how I should behave, ethics-wise?" and nope, it doesn't. My simulated self still possesses simulated empathy and the other simulated people feel simulated pain, so I still can't go around whacking their wrist bumps with a mallet. I'm going for a pacifist run of life and, admins, I DO expect to be rewarded with the true ending.
I don't care *most* of the time. Then I do something to set off all my synapses snapping or whatever, and then I care loads about stuff that doesn't matter most of the time. Only for a while though. Then I gotta get on with whatever this simulation needs to keep operating...
I mean. It started as an interesting thought experiment. Sort of an extension of "How do we know reality exists?" Or, like he sort of touched on in the video, whether or not anyone around us actually has consciousness or if they're all simulacra that convincingly act as though they have an inner life.
All of these kind of have the same conclusion. They're unfalsifable, but acting as though they're true would have pretty terrible outcomes. So it can be fun to explore because, you know, interesting thought experiment. So long as you acknowledge upfront that there's nothing practical to be gained.
The problem with simulation theory is when you use it as an excuse to check out from the real world. Because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter if this is a simulation. It's still the only world we have. The decisions and choices you make are still important. Frankly, I think the odds we live in some kind of simulation or the universe came into existence last Thursday, or that we live in the dream of some lovecraftian God, aren't all that bad. But it doesn't really matter.
"bostrum deez nuts" got me
My romanticized image of your scholarly wit crumbles to dust and ash xD
@@Arannath don’t worry; I have enough for both of us!
What sentence is it supposed to resemble though? Like obviously, _"ligma balls"_ is a funny code word for _"lick my balls"_ but what is _"bostrum deez nuts"_ even supposed to be a misspelling of? (or maybe I'm just reading too much into this...)
Horny gleep-glorps in your sector disagree! 😆
@@nob2243 he said bofa then didn’t say bofa deez nuts, just saying Bank of America. (Or B of A for short) Then slime man deferred the punchline to bostrum deez nutz. There is the joke funny now? Did I do good dad?
Broke: Bostrom, "we might be living in a computer simulation"
Woke: Baudrillard, "we have already lost the ability to meaningfully distinguish between simulacrum and the real."
Tbh I think that's quite correct, though.
If we were living in a simulation, there would be basically no way for us to actually tell. That simulation would be our reality. We can make little logic experiments and think about it real hard, but we can't prove it.
In fact, there is no meaningful difference of whether our reality is a simulation or not. We wouldn't suddenly gain Matrix style superpowers and learn to hack reality. It sounds really cool to think about, but it's ultimately just meaningless nonsense.
There is, in fact, no meaningful distinction between reality and simulation.
Baudrillard? More like Beaux-drill-hard, amirite?
Seriously, I'm glad someone replied with Jean Baudrillard.
absolute chad
@@Tacklepig Depending on the quality of the simulation you could exploit glitch behaviours, but so far everything points to our reality being very consistent.
@@LutraLovegood *clips into the floor at just the right angle so that i get launched to the other side of the milky way, breaking the speed of light, thus creating an information paradox that sets fire to the alien server hub we are simulated on, Freeing Us All*
"I think therefore I am, and I'm thinkin', so I gotta be!" is a line of dialogue (monologue I guess whatever shut up) that makes me so inordinately happy
Believing we're in a simulation means believing that someone programmed me typing this TH-cam comment, which includes the phrase "Alligator Nipples". So really the idea defeats itself.
Ah, but what you don't know is, the purpose of the Simulation is to generate band names! You have performed your function well. :)
Well *MAYBE* in da *REAL* universe Alligator Nipples are serious business. *WhO's tO sAy???*
in a weird way this actually calmed me down
yea but they programmed that so that we could calm ourselves down like this
The problem I have with this """"theory"""" is that you can replace 'in a simulation' with literally anything and it would have the same amount of supporting data. We live in the colon of a galactic scale gibbon. We live in a model train world and a tubby forty year old keeps adding more and more details.
No not really. If such a simulation is possible there would probably be multiples and those simulations might also develop a similar simulation at which point the amount of possible universes would grow exponentially.
Unless the galactic space gibbons colon has the ability to generate more galactic space gibbons. If that's the case then true.
@@stugeh I mean, if there's one thing gibbons can do like no one else its generating gibbons
you would be right if the galactic scale gibbon could recursively contain other galactic scale gibbons
@@robbietorkelsonn8509 and why can't they?
@@user-sl6gn1ss8p oh sorry, yes I misread, that is irrefutable evidence that we live inside a galactic scale gibbon
Good news everybody: You don't need to live in a simulation to feel insignificant in the universe, you just have to think about the universe. You're welcome ;)
Holy Shit
Cosmicism Moment
I want my new ringtone to be "if we carefully assume the conditions which make the conclusion inevitable, then the conclusion's inevitable."
That’s just a verbose way of saying “I have unresolved confirmation bias, and I don’t care”
@@xXRickTrolledXx it’s part of Matt’s rebuttal to Elon Musk at 7:17 - it is a beautifully concise sentence
As someone who struggles with my grasp on reality, I really like The Thinking Slime's way of handling this, and how he didn't downplay the struggles of people who are deeply effected by simulation theory
I'm kinda drunk, so feel free to ignore, but I genuinely feel like it makes no sense for anything to exist. That's not so much a statement about things as it is about sense and me perceiving it, mind you. But say you've walked forever and ever everywhere and it's all nothing. Just a bunch of nothing - no sense to be found -, forever. Then one day you stumble upon a wall. Intrasposable. Absolutely so. Would you feel you world has shrunk - or expanded?
Okay but listening to the ACTUAL SOURCE MATERIAL EXPLAINED has eased a huge amount of existential anxiety on my part lol
"Who's BofA?... Bank of America." You're killing me, Slimes. 😂
You seem like you're enjoying yourself more in your content! Happy to see you taking yourself less seriously.
I fell for bofa deez fakeouts
And then he followed up with the "Bostrom deez nuts" lmao
it's something they also do for 2-factor authentication
start of the text is just "BofA" and it makes me scream whenever i get to see it i hate it so much
Yes, I am enjoying this so much more now that he is having more fun with it all and not taking it all so seriously.
My dad kept calling it BOFA without knowing the meme and I finally had to tell him what it meant. And now he just says it for fun. 🙃
Imagine creating a simulation with a civilization in it and most people are just depressed, lonely and/or alienated from their work and watching TH-cam and Netflix all day while wearing nothing but underwear. Good job, ultra-intelligent beings.
Depends what their goal was. Sentient life would probably just be a side effect of a universe complex enough to do something interesting with. Maybe they just really like black holes, or want to simulate the heat death of their own universe.
next patch when?
This is every Sims player
@@GamesFromSpace now that's a program! Sentient life as a side effect...
This universes created by a race of space communists to show how shite capitalism is
Definitely need that nerf to the landlord class.
We could also do with a buff to the organise union skill.
Good ol' Russel's Teapot, confusing the world's richest and therefore smartest men since the 1950's.
"Russel's Teapot exists and I'm going to sell you the deed to it for the low low price of all your money"
Russel's paradox and other "liar paradoxa" imply that we aren't a computer simulation.
I'm schizoaffective, and the idea that my life is actually some sort of simulation is terrifying and legitimately haunts me. This video did a lot to make me feel better about the issue. Thank you.
Same! I have psychosis and that's part of why I clicked on this. I knew it would make me feel a bit better.
Psychosis gang represent. Simulation theory really did a number on me during a previous paranoid episode. Thoughtie's doing the Lord's work.
Not sure if it helps, but you could check out Hilary Putnam's refutation of the Brain in a Vat thought experiment
@@isopropylprofimilbarbiturp2217 I will, thank you!
Thanks! It brings joy to my heart to see people nonchalantly expressing how their neurodivergence affects their life. Please, never stop being this honest.
It’s weird to me that the idea of living in a simulation is seemingly the first concept to create nihilistic existential dread in some people. Like, how little thought have you put into your own existence?
It's more likely people who were already in a tenuous state of mind then latched onto it, but I mean people said they were seriously mentally damaged by the concept of Roko's Basilisk so idk man
I had a philosophy TA who legitimately didn't want to tell us about it since it's like, technically an information hazard
@@MrShinjiTabris
It's only an information hazard if people think it is an information hazard.
... and we already had such information hazards with fairly bogstandard gods without needing magical tech.
Did you know that Mormons can be obsessed with finding their dead relatives so that they can send them to heaven, doing all sorts of silly shit to do so?
Many people are mental babies and will have an existential crisis over the most tame thought experiment. Like I consider myself a pretty normal guy but apparently a lot of normal people literally do not think about anything metaphysical at all and it fucks them up when they do.
@@Graknorke yea, kinda shaking rn and not knowing what to do or think
Simulation theory is creationism for people who move bibles to the fiction section in libraries
Underrated comment
It's pretty irrelevant if we are in a simulation or not. Nothing changes.
It’s just the science bros “rapture.” Sad and deranged if you ask me.
One thing changes: it makes it easier for some people to abdicate responsibility.
Philosophy innit
It disproves every religion so that's pretty relevant
@@d0wnl0ad I mean evolution already did that.
Also, for those who feel anxious engaging with this idea: take solace in the fact that even in a simulation, this reality is real to YOU. Even if the world is simulated, you exist in it and it affects you.
“A lot of smart people....
....and also Elon Musk.”
When I get heavily derealized, simulation theory slips into my head. I’ve gotten pretty good at shutting is down with a “it doesn’t make a difference, it’s still my experience” so that I don’t end game myself though, so that’s good.
Hm, that reminds me of a game called Senua's Sacrifice. The protagonist Senua suffers from psychosis, and the central theme of the game is what is real and what Senua _perceives_ to be real - and why a disinction between the two should or should not matter:
"She’s dreamt of this before...They say dreams are visions of our memories, thoughts and fears as seen by our inner eye. Is this what Hel is? A world shaped by Senua’s nightmares?
But what if each one of us is always dreaming even when awake? And we only see what our inner eyes creates for us? Maybe that’s why people feared seeing the world through her eyes. Because if you believe that Senua’s reality is twisted, you must accept that yours might be too."
I feel you. I have extreme existential OCD. I watch videos like this to expose myself to the fear. It's hard to work through something so scary, but part of it is just realizing that you can make your own meaning regardless of what reality actually is
"Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." -Conan, fuckin' pwning Elon Musk with facts and logic
Conan The Barbarian would squash Thought Slime the second he started spouting his uber-liberal nonsense.
@@Houlgravely spoken like nobody who has ever actually read Conan. Go check out the Ablaze comics adaptations, they’re fucking awesome! And they have tiddies unlike those cucked Marvel comics!
Musk comes across like the real-life Tony Stark, but he's more like a real-life Lyle Lanley--- the huckster who sold a monorail to the town of Springfield.
he looks really a lot more like the "smart" version of Billy McFarland that managed to stay out of jail.
Extra ironic given later on during Zombie Simpsons, they had an episode specifically to worship at the glory of The Musk.
He strikes me as more of a Lex Luther type. If only we had a Superman to stop him. :(
@@optillian4182 Nah, cause Lex Luthor is actually a genius in the DC universe. While he does own his corporation that produces things for him, Lex actually creates a lot of the devices he uses. It would be more like if Lex was just lucky enough to be born rich, buy a company from actual geniuses that he then renames LexCorp, and just has the engineers come up with stuff, and the only thing he really cares about (besides money) is killing Superman. He has no idea how to do that, but he keeps pretending he does and telling the public that he's gonna kill Superman, but then putting it off and talking about a different method of killing Superman. Also, he's only popular because he posts 'le funny ha-ha' memes on twitter.
@@optillian4182 I usually think of him more like Justin hammer in the second Iron Man movie
In my mind, the simulation theory fad has the same roots as the zombie apocalypse fad during the great recession: being a human in a society is hard. Zombie scenario was 'what if no society?', and the simulation scenario is 'what if no (real) humans?'
Yes! I would add that the simulation scenario goes further, and is hence more popular, in the sense that it allows certain people to dismiss others as NPCs. Dehumanizing someone as a "zombie" doesn't work as well as dehumanizing someone as a NPC. Being a non-NPC elevates you to the position of awareness, agency and dominance, while reducing others to henchmen, people there to serve you.
Or in other words: simulation theory is more effective in catering to people's egoism and narcissism. That's why calling others NPCs is so popular among trolls, the menosphere etc.
The way Musk handled that cave rescue thing really tells you everything you need to know about this guy and exactly how seriously you need to take him.
I read this as "Elon Musk is a simulation" for a moment and was like, "Yeah, I see it."
Honestly I see it too
If only.
And not even a very convincing one.
Abigail made an interesting video that touches on how "brain in a jar" theory can only make sense when you are on top of power because when you aren't you're reality is so heavily defined by others
Do you remember which video of hers that was? I'd be interested in watching it.
Huh? But what if other people are also just brains in their own jars and we are hooked up via a glorified LAN cable with them?
@@cloud_appreciation_society it's the one where she comes out
@@raydgreenwald7788 Ah now you say that I think I remember the bit you are talking about, thanks!
@@raydgreenwald7788 hasn’t she technically come out twice? :S
Once as bi (hence the “Queer” video), and then again as trans.
I'm a philosophy major who's studied Bostrom (albeit not extensively) and Descartes and honestly I'm super happy (and also a little sad) that you have more cohesive understanding AND responses to Bostrom's positions than some of my peers.
My most generous interpretation of Elon Musk is a child that had it consistently confirmed to them since age 2 that they are the most significant person in the universe and everyone else is basically imaginary.
What do you think would happen to him if we put him into that thing from HHGTTG (sorry, can't remember what they called it) that shows each individual their true significance in their universe? 🤔
@@VeganAtheistWeirdo the total perspective vortex? didn't it basically kill anyone the put in it?
@@emorydomke7773 It's a feature, not a bug ;)
@@VeganAtheistWeirdo We should.
the bathroom goblins are real
proof: the bathroom is the only time/place I think about how disappointed the hypothetical audience of my Truman Show would be of me
Don't blame yourself. It's the producers fault for not injecting more conflict and exciting storylines into your show.
Years ago my Humanist group had this professor as a guest speaker who gave a talk on this topic. It was great because he went through the whole simulation theory in detail for like 45 minutes, totally in a serious, stoic, intellectual tone, concluding with what some smart-sounding people think is a significant chance that we're all in a simulation, and at the end there was this tension in the room, which the speaker then broke by basically shrugging and then casually pointing out that all these conclusions are based on a lot of really big IFs. Then everyone laughed. It was great.
It doesnt matter if we are in a simulation or not take the estrogen anyway
Elon needs to simulate some bimbofication gas
if we were in a simulation i wouldn't have to inject myself with the gender vaccine once a week for the rest of my life
the only red pill that needs taking
Gimme
Elon Musk: Has billions of Dollars, still doesn't know you can't prove a negative.
Elon Musk is an anagram to "sunk Elmo". I like the idea, that Elon Musk is just the meditative dream of a weird puppet from a higher universe.
@@halphantom2274 On Capitalist Mars, Elmo tickle you!
Almost as if financial success has little to nothing to do with one's intelligence or abilities....
whether or not we live in a simulation, there is very little we can do about it so it isn't worth worrying about.
This will be a fun one
Congrats on your firstness
Was it fun?
@@jakethewolfie119 very fun
Cool profile picture!
As an NB person myself, I'm curious how being trans and NB works? Not meaning to insult you in any way, I'm just curious.
I love "The Matrix" too, but here's the thing simulation theorists forget:
The Matrix world was only cool and breakable for those with the resources to do so; i.e. those who'd left it and been able to manipulate its source code like someone would control a lucid dream. Being in a simulation doesn't make this reality any cooler for those of us stuck in it. it would just mean that's all we would ever know and could never grow beyond it short of outside stimuli.
Then again, I'm pretty sure those are the same people who denounce the fact that "The Matrix" is an allegory for transgender life experience.
The Matrix model - and "superpowers" that go with it - is actually a better representation of spiritual traditions of Nondualism than technological ones. A lot of esoteric magic is based on a Nondualist view of reality but it usually requires that the "code" you're manipulating (and also comprised of) is consciousness itself, not that consciousness is a function of the code. And already I'm feeling either too sober or nowhere near sober enough to continue this train of thought.
@@matthewhearn9910 or the Wachuaski Brothers who are now sisters, made the Matrix about Trans life.
@@CobaltContrast That is a major part of the metaphor, yes, but they did have the cast specifically read books on Eastern philosophy relating to non-dualism and then take a test before production. So the nondualism itself is also part of the point.
How is Matrix a metaphor for trans life? Not denying it, I just never caught that. Would love to learn about it.
@@weareallbornmad410 the wachowski sisters, who made the film before they transitioned, have said that they were frustrated with society and not being able to live freely as trans people, which inspired the plot. The matrix could be seen as the social construct that is gender and the red pill, would then be, realising that you are not the gender that you were asigned at birth. Hope that makes some sence.
This whole theory is like: the gods are programmers. No wonder why those tech dudes love the theory the makes them the image of god.
I just wish people who talk about simulation theory have read Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, so they just stop.
Citing "Measure of a Man" is the ultimate philosophical mic drop.
"what you think you're smarter than the finest minds of the Federation? Highly illogical."
that mic dropped so hard
Even if we were living in a simulation, I'd still be struggling under capitalism.
I feel like "simulating a universe/consciousness is impossible" falls under "civilisations go extinct before they can run The Sims"
I remember back when I heavily believed in the theory that we're all living in a simulation, and it really messed me up mentally, the thought that I wasn't actually a real being, none of my loved ones were real, and none of my actions had any impact or purpose because the world I lived in wasn't real. I couldn't even talk about it for too long because it would make me suicidal. So, this video is comforting and reassuring. Thanks, Matt!
Hahaha same bro
Hmn...yeah tbh for me even if it is real or not real there is not much difference. There is not any overarching purpose I am aware of so it is more about choosing my own objective anyway , using what I am given to the best of my ability.
Honestly if we live in simulation IT would mean someone made it. And simulations are usually done fór reason. Same Is not probably case in real life. Not that it woud has aby impact on our daily lives eighter way.
Wait, Musk doesn't understand what he's talking about? No way!
Reality runs on Windows?
That explains... so much, actually.
God, I was just about to make a comment about him glossing over the obvious BofA Deez nuts joke potential when he hit us with Bostram Deez nuts and I fucking lost it.
Elon Musk is wrong about something? Gosh darn, there's no way! /s
Elon simps are gonna come for you
That's how we KNOW we're in a simulation, Elon can't be wrong in reality! 🙄
i clicked on this expecting to trigger my dissociation but it actually helped me work through that particular trigger. thank u mx slime
"I'm not in a simulation" is *just* what a simulacrum would say
I can feel my brain cells dying when Elon's trying to sound smart.
The horrifying thing is so many people just slurp up any dumdum shit he says because he's endlessly rich and has sent a rocket to space
@@anthonyr8231 not he, one of the companies that he owns
@@LutraLovegood Fair, but he will recieve the credit for owning the company
i don’t live in a simulation. i live in roller coaster tycoon
Also, Neil "The Grass" DeGrasse Tyson implies that these convincing simulations would be able to create equally convincing simulations inside themselves, which is obviously absurd. A simulation can't run another simulation that is just as complicated as itself without at least doubling the amount of processing power necessary for it, and if you even get just a couple nested layers deep that'd balloon exponentially and it'd be impossible to ever construct a computer able to run it
In fact, even if you build a completely 100% efficient computer, for that computer to run an exact simulation of the universe that it's inside of, it would by definition need to be exactly as complex as its entire universe - taking up all of its space, matter, and energy. If that universe is a simulation, processing another completely identical simulation inside of it would require exactly all of the processing power of the simulation. If we assume that a computer is even negligibly less efficient at (exactly perfectly) simulating something than that thing is at simply existing with the same resources, then this scenario becomes impossible even at only 1 layer deep
You can't just assume that, since computers are getting better, eventually they'll get good enough to break fundamental laws of entropy and information
NGD doesn't get a lot but he thinks he does. His biology tweets are astounding for the level of pure Does Not Get. Like if it isn't related to stars, he probs doesn't know jack about it.
Neil "Degrassi High" Tyson
Yeah but Neuromancer was cool, so... like... whatever.
Like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. Or those tiktoks that are reactions on reactions on reactions!
@@junkjunkloot4357 that's not the same thing, it all fits in one image.
Newton’s flaming laser sword: if it can’t be proven, it’s not worth proving.
You can't prove I have a small PP.
Problem libs?
_Inception_ basically convinced me that "yeah actually it really doesn't matter whether i'm living in a dream or a simulation or whatever because there's not really anything i can do about it anyway, like I could throw myself off a balcony and _maybe_ wake up but even then the version of "me" in the dream would be dead to everyone else in the dream so who tf cares"
The thing i dont get about simulation theory is that even if its proven true its like... okay. Thats neat. I will continue living as normal and eating hot chip
do you also charge you phone
The simulation theory is the same as "you can have a very vivid dream so that increases the likelihood that we're living in a dream". And tbh I'd be more worried about that - at least you can save your progress in a simulation usually.
As a lucid dreamer (sometimes) I can say with confidence that dreams have pretty obvious tells.
hey i've woken up from a dream before and then woken up later and realized I had a dream in my dream. we could all be living in a dream lol.
What Bostrom never bothered to do was check his work. There is an enormous flaw that I'm shocked no one talks about.
So let's assume premise 3 holds, we are in a simulation. That would mean that all the logic used in his 2003 paper was completely useless. He is reasoning against a reality he has never seen and may bear no resemblance to the simulated reality we are in. For example, perhaps base reality doesn't have any laws of physics. Perhaps no time, light, gravity, etc. Perhaps no electricity and therefore no computers as we think of them. So much of this simulation may be arbitrary or added for reasons only known to the creators.
Imagine Mario and Luigi sitting around trying to work out that they were in a video game based on their knowledge of jumping around in 2 dimensions, traveling through pipes, and jumping on turtle shells. They could discover almost nothing about our reality by observing and interacting in their simulated world. Nick, to make this argument, can not reasonably rely on any aspect of the universe as we know it.
If we are living in a simulation, how come I can't play as Carrie Ann Moss/ Trinity? 0 out of 5, wouldn't play again.
Bostrom isn’t that good in my opinion since he signed that paper that advocates enslaving robots you know the thing science fiction has told us not to do for a hundred years
I've noticed even in leftist spaces people get real pissy when I tell them that fully automated luxury communism might require AI so advanced it's self-aware, at which point we've just made a new working class that can ask for rights and will be in a position to demand them.
@@excrubulent That assumes that we'll be able to solve the problem of general intelligence. Which is such a big leap that it isn't something we need to worry about within our lifetimes.
@@excrubulent I mean a lot of leftists don't even recognize the oppression trillions of non-human animals experience so it follows they wouldn't care about robot general intelligence
fiction has been telling us to do a lot of stuff for hundreds of years, and most of it is actually real bad advice tho.
@@excrubulent you could program them to enjoy the labor. But I feel like almost everything we'd need intelligence for couldn't be complicated enough that an ai might develope sentience or sapience on its own.
When I was in college, the movie "the Thirteenth floor" came out. I really enjoyed it as a fun little sci-fi flick that would probably be featured on something like svengoolie or mst3k in 50 years or so.
I should have dropped out of college and poorly described that movie to everyone I met in order to convince them that I am a "big thinker" and they should give me money. That's where I went wrong! Maybe in one simulation I did that and I am their Elon Musk.
When arguing against simulation theory, I like to use the example of irrational numbers. If they are truly infinitely long without any repeating patterns, then a simulation that didn't want progressively worsening rounding errors would need to calculate the entire number every single time, and that would result in it using infinite processing power. An example of an irrational number is pi, and that appears in every single calculation of orbital mechanics.
that just speaks to a transcental simulation.
... anyway, I think it's only interesting if we can do something because of it.
The world being round gives us more/different options to go places.
Transistor need wave particle duality to work.
Simulations work probably let use break all types of conservation stuff if we could figure out
Irrational numbers are just a thing we made up though right, they're not an actual physical phenomenon. You can't pick up a number.
I think in reality you can't disprove that the universe is a simulation and it also doesn't really matter either way unless there's intervention by its creators, in which case it's still just a type of god, and we've been working out what to think about them since forever.
@@Graknorke formulae are formulae though if you need to simulate something to real life accuracy you need to have those irrational numbers exist for your calculations.
Can you give an example of a formula that would need irrational numbers to be calculated? I can't think of any unless you consider the possibility that some physical constants are irrational, but that would be impossible to prove since we only find those experimentally.
@@Graknorke calculate the area of a circle of radius R
Neil Degrasse Tyson doesn't believe in simulation theory, though, and made counter arguments against it even in that video you showed a clip from.
The entire logic of this is that we create video games because we want to create another real reality rather than as a method of storytelling and it's wild to me.
Even if this is the real world, every physical structure is ultimately just information encoded in energy, so it's not really all that different. Even if we are in a simulation, the fundamental reality of our existence is the same.
I'm actually feeling somewhat unreal myself right now, but that's probably because it's nearly 3am here and I am too old to be staying up that late omg goodnight folks.
Underrated comment
Hey computer overlords, I hope you got a lot of processing power to simulate all this ligma.
what's that?
@blexely you are not going to believe this... Ligma balls.
love that the recommended video after this for me is "5 people who discovered we are in a simulation"
"Even if it was just a simulation, your thoughts, decisions, and experiences are real" -MGS 2, essentially.
"I have no thoughts and I must scream." Thank you for the afternoon chuckle.
13:43 "Wang's Carpets" by Greg Egan (One of the best science fiction short stories ever written imo) explores this ("why investigate natural phenomenon when technology can simulate it"). It's a little bit technical, but a brilliant read. He incorporated the story into a full novel, Diaspora, that is /extremely/ worth the time if you enjoy hard sci-fi
If we're all programs running in a simulation then the simulation is literally the real world for us. A computer program cant run without circuitry to run on. We literally wouldn't be able to exist in the 'real' world, so defining the world of any potential simulation programmers as 'real' is incorrect and meaningless to us, so...why are we even having this conversation?
What if our simulated reality is a subscription based service and our god is too cheap to pay for it once the free trial expires?
@mars5012005 That's still not a meaningful distinction. We would be unaware that it ever even happened.
And the world we currently believe we live in presents the same possibility. At some point, our sun will stop releasing enough energy to fuel our planet. And that's only one of literally millions of possibilities.
when slimey started saying he is in fact a conscious being, I developed the OVERWHELMING urge to give hugs XD
Nerds really love riling themselves up with hypothetical nonsense like this, ever heard of Roko's Basilisk?
I think the most important part here is that you should not believe something until there is positive evidence suggesting it’s existence. That is why no actual physicist is advocating for things like the multiverse, because while it can be used to derive quantum mechanics, it has no positive evidence tied to it.
I think it's fine to believe in something without evidence, but it is wrong to treat it as scientific fact.
But if you follow the critical rationalists like Popper, there is no positive evidence, just hypotheses, that should be tested time and time again until we can say that this might be the truth. Trial and error, until you reach a truth, that thus far cannot be denied, until science might allow further arguments against it and specify your hypothesis again. If i remember correctly, most sciences accept this way of deducing knowledge through falsification... but that still means Bostroms Hypothesis would possibly be quickly falsified, so no justification here.
There's also the "so what?" part of it. Say that it's 100% proven that we live in a simulation, or a multiverse, or that solipsism is, in fact, real. So what? Your experiences aren't going to change, they still have to adapt to the simulated environment around you.