Is our Universe a Computer Simulation?

[PathWalker]

Thank you for this thread, I enjoy it allot.

Expanding on the simulation meme.

1. If we live in a simulation then what is real (could be multi-choice answer)?
2. If our reality this simulation, how can we select another realty (get to the next/previous/other version)?

I have a physicist friend (I am also an infidel physicist by education), after long debates we concluded that our dispute is unreachable.
For my attitude is that reality is an internal experience interpreted by the programmed ego.
His attitude that reality is an objective set of rules governing our experience.

[Carmody]

A next clue that the science aspects of this idea of a simulation has yet to address, is the validity and repeatable accuracy...of.... astrology.

Astrology as a system of not perfect determinism in the minutiae, but the predictability of relative circumstance. To points of pressure and potential, in type and nature, with variable outcomes, within a given range.

Which, oddly enough, looks like quantum predictability issues, in the grand macro scope instead of the quantum scope. The scientific end point of the minutia that science has discovered and cannot dismiss, appearing in the full macro system.

It is tied to planetary systems, and their motions in the heavens as compared to one's position on the surface of the planet. (exact birth time and place is required for the predictions of circumstance and potentials to be perfected)

True randomness reappears, when one leaves the planet.

Or, that self determination of a more self driven nature.....appears..... when one leaves the cradle of the planetary system that the earth is ensconced within.

[meat suit]

Posted by Carmody (here)

That the simulation may fail, as we are off course, dangerously off course. So, god, as we may call it, the universal singularity aspect, in human realization, will come out of the scientific world, as it must....or the sim breaks down, for this branch, this thing we are. That the correction in course must and will come, and via science.

there must be a backup.... multible backups... and parallel simulations with slight or large variations... new simulated worlds can be copied and pasted and combined from other ones.......
a sudden dimensional shift may be something as simple as an operating system upgrade....

[araucaria]

I have quoted Mark Buchanan’s Ubiquity, The Science of History… or Why the World is Simpler Than We Think on a number of occasions. Here is an exhaustive list (most recent first):
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1018745
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1013183
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post383165
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post389263
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...=1#post1001620

This book shows how the seemingly random occurrences of a particular phenomenon such as earthquakes or wars follow a simple power function.

The basic principle is that certain systems, under certain circumstances, behave in rather curious yet mathematically similar ways. For a practical illustration of the idea, take a handful of rice and drop the grains one by one on to a table top. Soon you will have a pile of rice. But the pile will not grow taller for ever: eventually the addition of one more grain will cause an avalanche. Keep a tally of the magnitudes of these avalanches and a characteristic pattern emerges, one that can be described mathematically using a power function. The important point about this in the present context is that the power-function description implies something profound about our ability to predict the behaviour of the rice pile. The addition of a single grain may have no discernible effect, or it may precipitate a small avalanche, or a big one, or a series of avalanches resulting in a catastrophic collapse of the whole structure. Because of the particular mathematical distribution of avalanche magnitudes, predicting which of these consequences will ensue is, for all practical purposes, impossible. https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...ienceandnature

Hence from the point of view of a simulation program, you could just type in a power function for each phenomenon and let the program run. And from the point of view of certain individuals who may not belong to the program at all, being the equivalent of computer bugs, or rather, collectively, a virus, those power functions might ultimately be modifiable from the inside. For example, if enough people were to learn to live together in peace and harmony, the frequency of catastrophic wars might be reduced, thereby altering the power function as originally programmed.

As always, the issue is whether or not a supposedly closed system is not in actual fact an open subsystem in disguise, i.e. with a closed door to a fully open system. Self-consciousness is the key to the door. When you realize you may be in a simulation (closed system), you become simultaneously aware of both the closure and of the opening: the closed door. You are no longer confined to the simulation because the closed door can be opened. In computing terms, I guess we are talking about the viral activity of flipping ones to zeroes and zeroes to ones.

[araucaria]

Posted by Carmody (here)
A next clue that the science aspects of this idea of a simulation has yet to address, is the validity and repeatable accuracy...of.... astrology.

Astrology as a system of not perfect determinism in the minutiae, but the predictability of relative circumstance. To points of pressure and potential, in type and nature, with variable outcomes, within a given range.

Which, oddly enough, looks like quantum predictability issues, in the grand macro scope instead of the quantum scope. The scientific end point of the minutia that science has discovered and cannot dismiss, appearing in the full macro system.

It is tied to planetary systems, and their motions in the heavens as compared to one's position on the surface of the planet. (exact birth time and place is required for the predictions of circumstance and potentials to be perfected)

True randomness reappears, when one leaves the planet.

Or, that self determination of a more self driven nature.....appears..... when one leaves the cradle of the planetary system that the earth is ensconced within.

Yes. And from time to time throw a new element into the mix: Neptune, Pluto, Planet X, binary star, galactic centre...

[Carmody]

Posted by meat suit (here)

Posted by Carmody (here)

That the simulation may fail, as we are off course, dangerously off course. So, god, as we may call it, the universal singularity aspect, in human realization, will come out of the scientific world, as it must....or the sim breaks down, for this branch, this thing we are. That the correction in course must and will come, and via science.

There must be a backup.... multiple backups... and parallel simulations with slight or large variations... new simulated worlds can be copied and pasted and combined from other ones.......
a sudden dimensional shift may be something as simple as an operating system upgrade....

The sim, like the AI core I designed (in mind) is exceedingly complex, and the number of potential outcomes, ie, the variables in difference from one clock cycle to the next, easily exceeds the number of atoms in this 3d universe.

Within the idea of a simulated space, with the people in it, those packs of self realizing or knots of intellect in a mode of partial self awareness (that varies from individual to individual) ..within their selves and integration, there are untold methods and ways of changing stress loads and positions of loads, whatever the case may be. Each vehicle, or avatar is similar in core design, but each program or life cycle is individual. So, in effect we have a range of operation.... but within that range we have something akin to infinity in turmoil and motion.

What this means is the capacity for injecting corrections is nearly infinite. But.... with a limited danger of collapse.... as the infinite variable is bounded.

Paradox, like quantum systems, as it is of quantum systems itself. But the paradox is illusory, like quantum systems. Quantum systems in analysis are confined to the box of 3d reality analysis as it is practiced and understood in the world of science today.

[ulli]

Carmody, you say "True randomness reappears when one leaves the planet".

I say, true randomness is always available, always, to those who wish to make use of it.
Of course, not to nature, as nature follows the rules of planetary climate, and of cosmic planetary conditions.

But a human being can break those rules, by going against their instincts, impulses, programming, even planetary influences, once they have understood the consequences of certain behavior patterns produced by those influences..
Then they are free to choose...to go with the flow, or against it.

And this ability to choose must not be lost. This is the randomness factor worth cherishing.
I think it was Phyllis Schlemmer who wrote a book called " The Only Planet of Choice"

[Carmody]

What this means is the capacity for injecting corrections is nearly infinite. But.... with a limited danger of collapse.... as the infinite variable is bounded.

the other side of that issue of bounded infinities, is the the capacity to wreak havoc is also bounded, or limited. so, in effect, the desire to crash the system, is also confined or bounded. Meaning, dissolution is not as possible as some might like to think. For example, the avatar has this fear of dissolution, which in turn, creates the aspect of limiting the chances of dissolution, in both the individual and the eventual whole..if enough are involved in that particular potential for 'avalanche' (as araucaria mentioned in post #14).

The problem comes when true strong singular potentials for change come along. And in the technology that I mentioned that I went forward with, we have this potential for going into space and gaining true self directed outcomes, outside of the bounded earth system. The problem with such technology, the other side of it's given coin.... is that it has potential to be very destructive as well. Like true Quantum AI, a thing we are probably not really ready for. And the inventor of such somehow ends up suffering potential for dying at any minute. So, the technology is useful in space but also potentially dangerous on the given earth globe.

[ulli]

Posted by Wind (here)
Well, I'm sure we will eventually find out. When ever that may be, is a different story.

It is said that the creation starts from mystery and ends in mystery.

Exactly. Neither the origin nor the destiny are known.
It is up to us to create the path, or tread one that was created for us.

[Violet3]

Posted by PathWalker (here)
Thank you for this thread, I enjoy it allot.

Expanding on the simulation meme.

1. If we live in a simulation then what is real (could be multi-choice answer)?
2. If our reality this simulation, how can we select another realty (get to the next/previous/other version)?

I have a physicist friend (I am also an infidel physicist by education), after long debates we concluded that our dispute is unreachable.
For my attitude is that reality is an internal experience interpreted by the programmed ego.
His attitude that reality is an objective set of rules governing our experience.

Another angle:I have just finished reading Florinda Donner's book 'Being in Dreaming'. Donner is a colleague of Carlos Casteneda and describes the female apprentice's encounter with the world of sorcery. The world view in Casteneda's and Donner's books seems essentially as you succinctly describe, PathWalker- an internal experience of the selective and habitual interpretations enforced by culture, fear and 'commonsense' to which the 'self' (programmed ego) conforms. So the sorcerer's path is to demolish the 'self', and through 'dreaming' and other methods to remove programming, re-enter the world, or perhaps access other worlds, in a radically different way....

[risveglio]

Well if this is a simulation, does anyone have the cheat codes?

[Carmody]

One of the problems that this thread will encounter is that it can drift off into what is well known in one world, which is that of spirituality and whatnot.

And it would basically result in a bunch of spiritualists talking among themselves. and there is already an entire forum area, here, for that.

I can understand the idea and the enthusiasm for doing so, in the act of trying to reach those who are technologically and scientifically oriented.


But, be it known, too much discussion in that area/direction, in this thread right here.....without the connecting groundwork in cold hard scientific terms, will push away the scientifically minded, who will be in confusion of what is going on.

They will leave the discussion. And that....... is entirely opposed to the point of having this thread.

So, be aware, if one responds here....and goes off on a spiritual tangent in this thread, I will probably request that... what is probably a well reasoned and caring humane post..to have that post removed.

what i see, is that we are beginning to head down that road and already, i would have to try and explain Ulli's post to the scientifically minded. (edit: post #17, which I have partially done in the post immediately below this one)

It can indeed be done. However, the road is complex and long, on that one.

Anything beyond that will get so complex,and so seemingly far out, that the scientifically minded will simply walk away.

I suspect that those who are spiritually minded, those who have psychic sensitivities and what not, who implicitly understand the implications of the simulation idea as it is happening now in science....those spiritual folks actually do want, they strongly desire the average scientifically literate person.... to understand what this world is really about, how this place really works.

Do not alienate the scientifically minded by talking your regular stuff here, do not talk the things you know and understand.

This is about bridging the gap. Do not break the tub and crush the baby.

[Carmody]

Posted by risveglio (here)
Well if this is a simulation, does anyone have the cheat codes?

iddqd & idclip & idkfa

In more serious terms, there is no cheat code, but there is a way of increasing personal capacity for seeing and understanding more things.

This involves the path of Buddhism, or similar intended spiritual undertakings. They are designed to remove the bounding aspects of the avatar and restore more of an infinity in self while still in the avatar and 3d-timespace world.

We can say with a certain confidence that human emotions block or bind thought, but few understand that intellectual musings begin in the hindbrain and are pre-filtered by emotions before they emerge.

Which is why clean headed scientific thinking even works at all, why it can bring about such interesting technology,and has moved the literal world forward. But, we are hitting it's limits.

Essentially... when we reach the limit of our thoughts in attempting to understand reality, it is reflected in how we limit our science.

Or, that our understanding of reality is bounded by our thought capacity limits, which, in turn are bounded by our conscious thought creation that simultaneously passes though and is filtered by our emotional core, which is tied to the depth of the body's survival mechanisms, as programming that is autonomous to a large degree.

So, in order to understand the wholeness of the world, the Buddhists go the route of removing the blinders on such width and depth of musing...that are built into the body/avatar.

The bigger the problem, the longer it has been around, the more impossible it is to answer.... the deeper and more fundamental the mistake or error in the formulation of the question.

[ghostrider]

We are tiny spiritual pieces of creation living in material bodies, as the universe always seeks variance, only to return to source (creation) adding to its knowledge, power, and consciousness, to create more amazing stars, galaxies and planets ... I would say we are in a sort of simulation... for over 46 trillion years the creation has been repeating the process...

[Hervé]

I often reference the "Third Man In The Room" experiment which has been duplicated numerous times and in which the Devil convinced someone it left the building

... that's how fine tuned a simulated universe can be... 7 billion of 'em universes... sharing a more or less common 3D physicality of a physical universe. That's where the crux of the problem resides: Is that 3D physical universe a collective construct of hypnotized minds which have been convinced that there is a 3D physical universe one can perceive the same way a stage hypnotist can convince subjects they are eating the most succulent virtual exotic fruits?

That brings us back to the collective mind/unconscious AKA "The Matrix":

Posted by Hervé (here)
Empathy and Psychic connection...

... otherwise known as "The Matrix" with strange manifestations such as "Mass Hysteria" or the reason why congregations of more than two individuals are forbidden in times of unrest to prevent riots...

Also the best way to "program" people assembled in congregations... or "schools"... demonstrations... religious gatherings... pilgrimages... or in front of TVs!

In short, it's the thing that gives legs to "ideas" (e-motion) and the kind of things the militaries, letters agencies, doom & gloom preachers, the WHO, CDC and FatPharma are counting on to start panic waves...

Get the idea?

"Astrology" may also partake of that ability of individual and collective human mind to react to "triggers" as exemplified by the "Toilet Flushers."

The "triggers' being either a replication of cumulated similar celestial configurations (geometrical and/or energetical mix) with their attendant events and/or ambient "atmosphere." This, because "The Matrix" as an individual and collective "tool" records about everything occurring in one's environment, especially traumatic and/or emotionally charged events like death, birth, illnesses, etc... that would be the "data/memory banks portion (AKA Akashic Records) of "The Matrix."

[uzn]

He also thinks its a good idea to nuke Mars.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gV6hP9wpMW8

[Carmody]

He is exactly right about dropping nukes or similar devices over the poles of mars, to release the solids deposited there, into gasses, which would thicken -make the atmosphere more dense, to get to a higher atmospheric pressure.... which would capture infrared heat, and thus heat the surface and give a chance for forms of life and vegetation to take hold. Which in turn would help build more atmosphere.

It's a radical quick fix, with regard to beginnings of transforming mars, and is not really on the table and it is sensationalist thing to have Elon say. Even though it is viable and true.

The better thing to do is to keep it as an option, and then go and look at Mars close up, in person, and assess and weigh the various methods and their potential outcomes and time frames -- with the increased data.

[sommervr]

Posted by risveglio (here)
Well if this is a simulation, does anyone have the cheat codes?

I always thought we were living in an interpreter (like java) and our DNA is just a template for all the processes sparking in and out (ie. us). The strange markings on the surface of UFOs could be function calls directly to the API (ie cheat codes) for entities that understand the environment

[skyflower]

would a simulation explain why we perceive time in a linear fashion?
IF this reality is a simulation, wouldn't it possible to rewrite it when things don't turn out well? Would that explain dejavu , or the whole mandela effect, where things are not as we remember....

Even with astrology...how you can figure out someone's personality with just their birth information. It makes one wonder whether we truly have free will...?

[PathWalker]

There is a great old thread (2013) on this subject here.
Centered around the MSM press post here.
Good article but the "scientific" author John D. Barrow is failing to state his axiomatic assumption (for every each mathematician). Assuming the AI is a formal mathematical system. Which it is not as we Humans do not follow formal mathematical system in our thinking and creativity (our concepts are/can change constantly, and our emotional logic is flexible as well).
I suggest the scientific minds here to investigate formal mathematical system.

In addition there is interesting recent MSM release from NASA in the subject
"Our universe may be a Matrix-like computer game designed by aliens, says NASA scientist"
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/...NASA-Scientist
The source for Musk arguments.

I do not regard this article as soft disclosure but rather a distracting meme (thought virus).

The philosophic questions arising from this question are not scientific but rather spiritual. Because they cannot be measured with scientific tools (logical reasoning and physical measurements).
The basis reasoning that humans experience is subject to logic is an axiom. Which is a belief system (circular argument). Now back to spirituality.
My self an infidel physicist by education, and frustrated scientist by nature .

And back to this planet!
I find this quote offensive...

Posted by Carmody (here)
They will leave the discussion. And that....... is entirely opposed to the point of having this thread.

So, be aware, if one responds here....and goes off on a spiritual tangent in this thread, I will probably request that... what is probably a well reasoned and caring humane post..to have that post removed.

I find this quote condescending . I highly regard uli of the best articulate writers in here.

Posted by Carmody (here)
what i see, is that we are beginning to head down that road and already, i would have to try and explain Ulli's post to the scientifically minded. (edit: post #17, which I have partially done in the post immediately below this one)