It's a Feature, Not a Bug

Glenn Reynolds, writing for USA Today, riffs on the idea "life as we know it" is actually a computer simulation running on an unimaginably complex server. He imagines it exists for the entertainment of who or whatever set up that server and started the simulation. This view leads to some unexpected conclusions:

People getting along and treating each other well are boring. And if we’re boring, the most likely result would be that whoever is running the simulation would shut it down, leading to the end of the world as we know it.

So if we’re in a simulation set up for the entertainment of some sort of superintelligent aliens, we want to be like a long-running telenovela — action-packed with conflict, betrayal, disguises, sudden reverses of fortune and so on.

And if that’s the case, then humanity is doing pretty well, and all the nastiness and disorderliness and conflict that generally upset me about human life aren’t actually bugs — they’re features! By keeping things entertaining, they’re actually keeping humanity going.

Sit back and enjoy the turbulence of life (and of this election season). It may be the only reason you’re still here.

You'd probably guess Reynolds enjoys speculative fiction. So do I.