Who knew? Instapundit Glenn Reynolds has deep thoughts, thoughts worthy of a philosopher. It is these, among others, that he shares with us on his Substack site. Today he considers the possibility (probability?) that we and everything we can sense are all elements in a vastly elaborate simulation.
It turns out that viewing our universe as a simulation is very like the Biblical Intelligent Design model. All that differs is the supposed nature of the designer/creator/entity who designed the simulation. What does Reynolds conclude?
If we’re real, we just exist. If we’re simulated, we exist only so long as the simulation runs. And since, presumably, the simulation will run only so long as whoever is running it finds it useful or interesting, if we’re living in a simulation, it behooves us to be interesting.
if we’re in a simulation set up for the entertainment of some sort of superintelligent aliens, or super-advanced humans, 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 damn 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. So there’s your takeaway.
Stay interesting, my friends.
In case you haven't twigged to it, Reynolds and I share a fondness for speculative fiction.
