Haha, that breeds all kinds of crazy ideas. If one could simulate the world's biosphere and its organisms at the genetic or even cellular level, we might one day be able to predict the effects of evolution on humans and other animals.
MAYBE even with bacteria and viruses to predict and then cure diseases before they even present themselves!
I doubt our understanding of genetics/biology is extensive enough for this yet, not to mention the computing power needed, but it seems quite possible.
There is this professor here at Oxford, Nick Bostrom, who argues that we are currently living in a simulation:
1) Moore's law holds across worlds.
2) People/beings will, for various reasons (historic, sociological, experimenting, play) want to simulate another world (at a social/molecular/submolecular, etc level).
3) If they simulate one, they'll likely do more.
4) Ergo, there will be more simulated worlds than real ones.
5) Therefore we are more likely to live in a simulated world/universe than in a first order one.
Comments
Haha, that breeds all kinds of crazy ideas. If one could simulate the world's biosphere and its organisms at the genetic or even cellular level, we might one day be able to predict the effects of evolution on humans and other animals.
MAYBE even with bacteria and viruses to predict and then cure diseases before they even present themselves!
I doubt our understanding of genetics/biology is extensive enough for this yet, not to mention the computing power needed, but it seems quite possible.
There is this professor here at Oxford, Nick Bostrom, who argues that we are currently living in a simulation:
1) Moore's law holds across worlds. 2) People/beings will, for various reasons (historic, sociological, experimenting, play) want to simulate another world (at a social/molecular/submolecular, etc level). 3) If they simulate one, they'll likely do more. 4) Ergo, there will be more simulated worlds than real ones. 5) Therefore we are more likely to live in a simulated world/universe than in a first order one.
http://www.simulation-argument.com/
Think about this when you unplug something in the future...
Close; he doesn't argue that we are living in a simulation, he argues that at least one of the following propositions is true:
- The human species is likely to go extinct before reaching a stage where it can simulate its ancestors.
- Future humanity will have no interest in simulating its ancestors.
- We are almost certainly living in an ancestor simulation now.
I simplified it a bit, and explained the last, optimistic option... :)