From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Fri Mar 16 2001 - 01:37:15 MST
CurtAdams@aol.com wrote:
>
> Several people have suggested that our world is indistinguishable from a
> simulation. I disagree. One universal characteristics of simulations is
> that they simplify. If you look at any aspect in enough detail (usually not
> closely at all) it's simple. This is stunningly different from the real
> world, in which the closer you look the more complex it gets. The proposal
> that the simulation "makes up" detail when required is implausible.
I doubt it. The only time you really need quarks is inside a particle
accelerator. Heck, the only time you really need cells is under a
microscope. And if you did catch them at it, they could just fake your
memories.
-- -- -- -- --
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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