Am I the only one who finds it mildly humorous that some highly intelligent, publicly atheist/agnostic people posit we are living in a simulation?
Let's unpack this.
A simulation is a designed creation. To those residing in the simulation, the simulated world is those residents reality--their physical world. And if we are to take it a step further, either the residents were captured and placed in the simulation, without realizing they were captured, transported, and placed, or the residents are simulations themselves--computer artificial intelligences that are part of their virtual world. Indeed, this is exactly what the originator of the Simulation Hypothesis, Nick Bostrom, posited.
Like I said, let's unpack this.
If we are digital creatures, living in a simulation, for all intents and purposes the simulation is our universe, our reality. As digital creatures, our digital world is native to us. It is natural to us. It is our natural world.
The other fact is the creator or creators of the simulation represent a super-intelligence compared to the residents of the simulation. The creator(s) of the simulation is/are all-powerful over the simulation--they could change the simulation in a way that would appear to violate the physical laws the residents experience. They could destroy part or all of the simulation at any point. In other words, compared to the residents of the simulation, the simulation's creator(s) is/are omnipotent. The creator(s) exists external to the simulation. If the simulation is a universe, the creator(s) exist in a different universe, a different dimension--the two realms would never cross. Or could they? Perhaps it is possible for a creator to create an avatar and enter the simulation, experiencing the simulated world, while maintaining their omnipotence, a form of dual entity, fully simulation avatar, able to experience the simulated world, and fully creator, able to exhibit omnipotence over the simulation if they chose to do so.
Even if the creator(s) of the simulation allowed the artificial intelligence of the residents to control their own actions, the creator(s), as the author(s) of the algorithm, may be able to predict with perfect accuracy the actions of the residents.
We have come to a reasonable conclusion the creator(s) of the simulation are external to what the residents of the simulation consider their natural world. The creator(s) is/are extra-natural when compared to the residents.
We have come to a reasonable conclusion the creator(s) of the simulation operate in a manner that makes them superior to the domain the residents of the simulation consider their
natural world. The creator(s) is/are supernatural when compared to the residents.
We have come to a reasonable conclusion the creator(s) of the simulation
are all-powerful compared to the residents of the simulation they created, and the simulated world they created. The creator(s) is/are omnipotent when compared to the residents.
And these brilliant atheists/agnostics who think there is a possibility we are living in a simulation created by and controlled by an all-powerful super-intelligence simultaneously believe those who believe in an omnipotent, supernatural, spiritual creator are ignorant rubes.
Got it.
