I always thought that the idea of the Holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation was pretty cool. I mean, think about it. Step into a room controlled by a computer, say where and when you want to be ("Paris, 1950" or whatever) and suddenly, magically, there you are, in a computer generated world that seems totally realistic - so much so that you can interact with the "people" you meet, even fall in love with them. Great idea. I've seen "The Matrix." Unlike most people I didn't care for it, but I've seen it. And I know that there's a lot of work going on even now in the area of virtual reality, and we even have some ability to create and control fantasy worlds - think "Sims," for example, or "Animal Crossing." I always wondered, after playing those games, do those characters somehow continue along their merry way inside the games even when we're not playing the game? Have we created some type of "reality" that depends on us but is also sort of separate from us? Interesting. And, what about our world. As real as it seems, could this all be a computer simulation? Could we all be bits of data with the illusion of reality? I bring this up not because I think of myself as an especially philosophical kind of guy. Hardly. I like steaks, I love my dog and I adore my family - hardly the things of a philosophical guru. Yes, I believe in God, but as more than just a philosophical construct. I started thinking about this when I learned that there's a NASA scientist (NASA makes it sound pretty serious!) named Rich Terrile who believes "that a 'programmer' from the future designed our reality to simulate the course of what the programmer considers to be ancient history - for whatever reason, maybe because he’s bored." This is actually pretty deep stuff. Apparently it's no great stretch to be able to believe that we would be able to simulate beings who would really be conscious of their existence and be able to make independent choices. As Terrile says, if that's possible, then we really could be simulated beings, who will one day be able to simulate other beings. The simulation we live in could be the creation of yet another simulation, and the simulations we create could create other simulations. Where does it begin or end? Does it begin or end? Can it begin or end? It's all quite fascinating, really, although I'm not too sure what it does to my sense of self-worth to think that I could simply be the result of some simulated being deciding that he/she is bored and creating me as yet another simulation! But as long as I'm conscious of my existence I guess it doesn't really matter. It's interesting to think of all this in connection with theology. As Terrile notes, if he's correct, we could be both God and servants of God, in the sense that we are both creator and created. I'll have to ponder that one for a while, although my initial reaction is that it lends credence to theism. Here's the whole article about Rich Terrile and his theory:
Sunday, 16 September 2012
September 16, 2012: One Interesting Thing - Are We A Computer Simulation?
I always thought that the idea of the Holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation was pretty cool. I mean, think about it. Step into a room controlled by a computer, say where and when you want to be ("Paris, 1950" or whatever) and suddenly, magically, there you are, in a computer generated world that seems totally realistic - so much so that you can interact with the "people" you meet, even fall in love with them. Great idea. I've seen "The Matrix." Unlike most people I didn't care for it, but I've seen it. And I know that there's a lot of work going on even now in the area of virtual reality, and we even have some ability to create and control fantasy worlds - think "Sims," for example, or "Animal Crossing." I always wondered, after playing those games, do those characters somehow continue along their merry way inside the games even when we're not playing the game? Have we created some type of "reality" that depends on us but is also sort of separate from us? Interesting. And, what about our world. As real as it seems, could this all be a computer simulation? Could we all be bits of data with the illusion of reality? I bring this up not because I think of myself as an especially philosophical kind of guy. Hardly. I like steaks, I love my dog and I adore my family - hardly the things of a philosophical guru. Yes, I believe in God, but as more than just a philosophical construct. I started thinking about this when I learned that there's a NASA scientist (NASA makes it sound pretty serious!) named Rich Terrile who believes "that a 'programmer' from the future designed our reality to simulate the course of what the programmer considers to be ancient history - for whatever reason, maybe because he’s bored." This is actually pretty deep stuff. Apparently it's no great stretch to be able to believe that we would be able to simulate beings who would really be conscious of their existence and be able to make independent choices. As Terrile says, if that's possible, then we really could be simulated beings, who will one day be able to simulate other beings. The simulation we live in could be the creation of yet another simulation, and the simulations we create could create other simulations. Where does it begin or end? Does it begin or end? Can it begin or end? It's all quite fascinating, really, although I'm not too sure what it does to my sense of self-worth to think that I could simply be the result of some simulated being deciding that he/she is bored and creating me as yet another simulation! But as long as I'm conscious of my existence I guess it doesn't really matter. It's interesting to think of all this in connection with theology. As Terrile notes, if he's correct, we could be both God and servants of God, in the sense that we are both creator and created. I'll have to ponder that one for a while, although my initial reaction is that it lends credence to theism. Here's the whole article about Rich Terrile and his theory:
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