Are we living in a computer simulation? This is a question that has been pondered by philosophers and scientists for centuries. In this video, “This Video Game Designer Thinks We’re Living in a Simulation,” JRE Clips interviews a video game designer turned investor who argues that it is likely that we are living in a simulation.
The speaker himself experienced a virtual reality game so realistic that he forgot it wasn’t real for a moment. This experience led him to consider how long it would take to create a simulation indistinguishable from reality.
The speaker points out that technological singularity is a point where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. If we can create such intelligence, he believes we can also create simulations indistinguishable from reality.
The speaker argues statistically, if we can create such simulations, then there are likely more simulations than base realities. We are more likely to be living in one of the many simulations than the single base reality.
The speaker brings up the observer effect in quantum physics, where the act of observing something affects the outcome. He then discusses the delayed choice experiment, which suggests that the past might not be fixed but changeable. This challenges our understanding of reality.
Finally, the speaker mentions Philip K. Dick, a science fiction author who believed we might be living in a simulated reality. The speaker talks about Dick’s idea that our memories might be implanted and that our past might be different from how we remember it.