Digital physics argument
- Thread starter vbj
- Start date
This is the same argument from ignorance that creationists offer. We do not know how the universe came to be or why it is as it is, there [insert cultural hypothesis]
Back in the day the cultural hypothesis was "God did it". Today the cultural hypothesis is "virtual reality".
The scientific answer is: we do not know, let's do more research
Back in the day the cultural hypothesis was "God did it". Today the cultural hypothesis is "virtual reality".
The scientific answer is: we do not know, let's do more research
Actually the claim is an argument from analogy. I don't know if the universe is a simulation although recent evidence like this points that way. Computers are made by minds. Likewise if the universe is a simulation inside a computer then it was made by a mind.
This year's physics Nobel prize is on quantum entanglement so scientists take the simulation idea seriously. The video addressed advanced civilizations as simulators citing problems like infinite regress of simulators.
CrowCross
Super Member
Now it's....I believe it because an x-pert said so....and science will eventualy figure it out. (the science of the gaps)
CrowCross
Super Member
Is there even a difference between a real hell created by God and a virtual reality hell created by God?
It is a shame you failed to read my first post on this thread. I will repeat it here, because it does destroy your comment.
The scientific answer is: we do not know, let's do more research
LifeIn
Well-known member
Only if you choose the red pill over the blue pill.
But to address your question seriously, in what sense could we even say the world was virtual and not real? We would have to be "outside" the world to even understand what they meant.
Also, I have a small quibble about the title of the thread and the video. That title equates "digital" with "virtual". I realize that in common parlance, the most common application of the word "digital" is to computers and the Internet, which suggests a "virtual" world. But in fact there is no necessary connection between virtual and digital. There were analog computers before their were digital computers, and there were analog simulations before their were digital simulations. So you can have a "virtual" reality that isn't digital. Conversely, there are some instances of a "digital" reality in the real world. Anything with separate discrete states is "digital". That includes stair steps, photo-receptors in animal eyes making images from pixels, and discrete atomic states like atomic number. So you can have digital without virtual and virtual without digital. So the title should have been "Virtual argument for...." But I see I have spent way too many words on what is essentially a small quibble. Sorry.
Last edited:
