83,240
edits
Simulation hypothesis: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
{{quote|''I wish I could summon a strong argument against it, but I can find none.'' | {{quote|''I wish I could summon a strong argument against it, but I can find none.'' | ||
:— Neil Degrasse Tyson}} | :— [[Neil Degrasse Tyson]]}} | ||
{{Quote|''“I speak of none but the computer that is to come after me,” intoned Deep Thought, his voice regaining its accustomed declamatory tones. “A computer whose merest operational parameters I am not worthy to calculate—and yet I will design it for you. A computer that can calculate the Question to the Ultimate Answer, a computer of such infinite and subtle complexity that organic life itself shall form part of its operational matrix.'' | {{Quote|''“I speak of none but the computer that is to come after me,” intoned Deep Thought, his voice regaining its accustomed declamatory tones. “A computer whose merest operational parameters I am not worthy to calculate—and yet I will design it for you. A computer that can calculate the Question to the Ultimate Answer, a computer of such infinite and subtle complexity that organic life itself shall form part of its operational matrix.'' | ||
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
An amusing, but fundamentally preposterous ''[[a priori]]'' argument which purports to prove by deduction, in the same way that [[Rene Descartes]] deduced the existence of [[Cogito, ergo sum|rice pudding and income tax]], that either we are as good as dead, or we live in a Matrix. | An amusing, but fundamentally preposterous ''[[a priori]]'' argument which purports to prove by deduction, in the same way that [[Rene Descartes]] deduced the existence of [[Cogito, ergo sum|rice pudding and income tax]], that either we are as good as dead, or we live in a Matrix. | ||
Spoiler: ''[[a priori]]'' arguments are conjuring tricks. They are fun and entertaining. but don’t try them at home. This one is practically impossible to try at home, of course, which is, perhaps, why apparently intelligent people who ought to know better, like Neil deGrasse-Tyson, are sucked in by it. | Spoiler: ''[[a priori]]'' arguments are conjuring tricks. They are fun and entertaining. but don’t try them at home. This one is practically impossible to try at home, of course, which is, perhaps, why apparently intelligent people who ought to know better, like [[Neil deGrasse-Tyson]], are sucked in by it. | ||
===The argument=== | ===The argument=== | ||
#If you accept a materialist perspective,<ref>i.e., that there is no God, or that our consciousness is not some manifestation of a non-material “spirituality” of some kind.</ref> and you have a sufficiently powerful computer, you can emulate human consciousness. | #If you accept a materialist perspective,<ref>i.e., that there is no God, or that our consciousness is not some manifestation of a non-material “spirituality” of some kind.</ref> and you have a sufficiently powerful computer, you can emulate human consciousness. | ||