The theory, which I probably misunderstand because I have a similar level of education to a macaque, states that because a simulated world would eventually develop to the point where it creates its own simulations, it’s then just a matter of probability that we are in a simulation. That is, if there’s one real world, and a zillion simulated ones, it’s more likely that we’re in a simulated world. That’s probably an oversimplification, but it’s the gist I got from listening to people talk about the theory.
But if the real world sets up a simulated world which more or less perfectly simulates itself, the processing required to create a mirror sim-within-a-sim would need at least twice that much power/resources, no? How could the infinitely recursive simulations even begin to be set up unless more and more hardware is constantly being added by the real meat people to its initial simulation? It would be like that cartoon (or was it a silent movie?) of a guy laying down train track struts while sitting on the cowcatcher of a moving train. Except in this case the train would be moving at close to the speed of light.
Doesn’t this fact alone disprove the entire hypothesis? If I set up a 1:1 simulation of our universe, then just sit back and watch, any attempts by my simulant people to create something that would exhaust all of my hardware would just… not work? Blue screen? Crash the system? Crunching the numbers of a 1:1 sim within a 1:1 sim would not be physically possible for a processor that can just about handle the first simulation. The simulation’s own simulated processors would still need to have their processing done by Meat World, you’re essentially just passing the CPU-buck backwards like it’s a rugby ball until it lands in the lap of the real world.
And this is just if the simulated people create ONE simulation. If 10 people in that one world decide to set up similar simulations simultaneously, the hardware for the entire sim realty would be toast overnight.
What am I not getting about this?
Cheers!
I understand the point your making, but what if the simulation was actually not shared at all?
Perhaps in this scenario the human brain is the only required hardware? Then there would only be one “base simulation” that is in fact just a basic set of prompts, rules, and initial visual stimulus that is then sent to each person in essence creating a whole separate simulation within each individual. Everything that happens after that is created based on how each individual reacts to the initial prompts. The main system would not have to create any new data to keep the simulation growing because the human mind would create and store all new information within itself. Each new person born would have all the additional hard drive and processing power needed to keep the simulation going for the rest of their lives.
Just consider that if the world as we know it is just a simulation, and that simulation is all we have ever known since birth, how would you ever know if the other people are real or not? Would it even matter?