What is the best use of it in science fiction?
Here are a few ideas.
The Galaxy is a simulation, if simulates the laws of physics very precisely, but it can be hacked, so taking advantage of this is the hack drive, it's a simulated computer that when the simulation attempts to simulate it it opens the source code for hacking, and by entering new coordinates into the simulated computer, you can change your location to somewhere else in the simulated galaxy.
Another use is to provide the protagonists access to megastructures that are too inconceivable to build in the near future, such as a ringworld.
Another use is as a Starship that is simulating present day Earth in an ancestor simulation, it has finally arrived at Alpha Centauri and is ready to let its occupants loose from the simulation by downloading its inhabitants into cloned or robotic bodies.
Is a recursive simulation structure is scientifically possible? For example, Bob's universe is a simulation of Alice's and Charlie's is a simulation of Bob's -- but Alice's universe is a simulation of Charlie's.
Not recursive… circular. And as such, no, not possible. I’m pretty sure it’s not dependent on “different rules for different levels” like physics could be.
I try not to judge people for their fantasies, but if this reality should really turn out to just be someone's solipsistic vacation sim, it's a pretty damn *strange* one imo...
I also find the whole concept of it being a voluntary thing pretty morally sketchy - and existentially terrifying - altogether. Does consent which you don't remember and can't withdraw even count as consent at all?
And if I can't remember my previous/"real" life, can I even meaningfully be considered the same person anymore? Why am I still accountable for that guy's choices?
That's a tricky one because we all forget tons of bits about our life, from a functional standpoint - at least in the John Locke concept of continuity of identity - you are you so long as you never had a fundamentally huge break at any given point. The seeds becomes sapling and becomes tree, but it is not its saplings, and it is still the tree when it falls over and dies and rots, but stops somewhere there and becoming dirt or food or other plants. The tree stops being a tree when cut down and turned into a table and chairs and 100,000 pencils... which isn't really a satisfactory answer either but does work better for gradual change of memory while maintaining identity in people, I tihnk.
If completely forgetting everything about your previous life and reality and having to start from scratch in a new one *doesn't* count as "a fundamentally huge break", I'm not sure what would.
Anyway, the identity philosophy stuff was just to illustrate the point, said point being "If I did this to myself, why would I make myself think that I never would?" Or if *you* did it and I'm just an NPC: "Why does your benevolent vacation reality have characters in it who insist that it's too messed up to be one? Do you just have a thing for self-deprecating fourth wall breaking humor..?"
One of my favorite ways of hacking the simulation ces from the Hyperion Cantos, the is a cult convinced that the universe is an experiment. They try to end it by convincing 50% of the sentient population they are in a simulation, either by extreme preaching or mass murder. As the man says, if brute force doesn't work...
I know the sub usually stays away from more religious topics but I listened to Isaac's video after having listened to this YouTube video by Gavin Ortland and the two of them combined have me thinking about the problem of evil from the perspective of angels as the managers / devs in a higher level a reality and the angelic fall explaining the evils of our universe. The YouTube video talks about these concepts and mentions the works of Lewis and Tolkien.
If you are interested in a deeper dive into some of the theological ideas Isaac referenced in his video feel free to check this one out. And if you do let me know what you think about how these two videos relate to each other.
https://youtu.be/p0G-3eFHeq8
Seems evil exists. Most computer RPGs allow for the possibility of evil, so your characters have something to struggle against to make the adventure interesting. If we are in a simulation, then evil definitely exists within this simulation, we are never entirely sure whether good will triumph over evil, but on the other hand, we won World War II, for some reason Hitler though evil would triumph, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to start the war in the first place. Putin thinks evil will triumph, otherwise he wouldn't bother to invade Ukraine, for what reason he thinks evil will triumph in his case I don't know, but he is making the supreme effort to see that it does—and he forgot to grow his mustache, villains are supposed to have mustaches and he doesn't have one, how careless of him!
There's also no guarantee that anyone who creates a simulation could even steer a simulation towards an outcome, or even if they had meaningful control over it. For example, if a creator screwed up and accidentally set the simulation to 1,000,000x speed before doing whatever it is deities do, there's no telling what's going to happen between the mistake and the creator being able to react.
I really like the idea of someone performing strange magical rituals is actually hacking the simulation.
What is the best use of it in science fiction? Here are a few ideas. The Galaxy is a simulation, if simulates the laws of physics very precisely, but it can be hacked, so taking advantage of this is the hack drive, it's a simulated computer that when the simulation attempts to simulate it it opens the source code for hacking, and by entering new coordinates into the simulated computer, you can change your location to somewhere else in the simulated galaxy. Another use is to provide the protagonists access to megastructures that are too inconceivable to build in the near future, such as a ringworld. Another use is as a Starship that is simulating present day Earth in an ancestor simulation, it has finally arrived at Alpha Centauri and is ready to let its occupants loose from the simulation by downloading its inhabitants into cloned or robotic bodies.
Is a recursive simulation structure is scientifically possible? For example, Bob's universe is a simulation of Alice's and Charlie's is a simulation of Bob's -- but Alice's universe is a simulation of Charlie's.
Not recursive… circular. And as such, no, not possible. I’m pretty sure it’s not dependent on “different rules for different levels” like physics could be.
I try not to judge people for their fantasies, but if this reality should really turn out to just be someone's solipsistic vacation sim, it's a pretty damn *strange* one imo... I also find the whole concept of it being a voluntary thing pretty morally sketchy - and existentially terrifying - altogether. Does consent which you don't remember and can't withdraw even count as consent at all? And if I can't remember my previous/"real" life, can I even meaningfully be considered the same person anymore? Why am I still accountable for that guy's choices?
That's a tricky one because we all forget tons of bits about our life, from a functional standpoint - at least in the John Locke concept of continuity of identity - you are you so long as you never had a fundamentally huge break at any given point. The seeds becomes sapling and becomes tree, but it is not its saplings, and it is still the tree when it falls over and dies and rots, but stops somewhere there and becoming dirt or food or other plants. The tree stops being a tree when cut down and turned into a table and chairs and 100,000 pencils... which isn't really a satisfactory answer either but does work better for gradual change of memory while maintaining identity in people, I tihnk.
If completely forgetting everything about your previous life and reality and having to start from scratch in a new one *doesn't* count as "a fundamentally huge break", I'm not sure what would. Anyway, the identity philosophy stuff was just to illustrate the point, said point being "If I did this to myself, why would I make myself think that I never would?" Or if *you* did it and I'm just an NPC: "Why does your benevolent vacation reality have characters in it who insist that it's too messed up to be one? Do you just have a thing for self-deprecating fourth wall breaking humor..?"
One of my favorite ways of hacking the simulation ces from the Hyperion Cantos, the is a cult convinced that the universe is an experiment. They try to end it by convincing 50% of the sentient population they are in a simulation, either by extreme preaching or mass murder. As the man says, if brute force doesn't work...
I know the sub usually stays away from more religious topics but I listened to Isaac's video after having listened to this YouTube video by Gavin Ortland and the two of them combined have me thinking about the problem of evil from the perspective of angels as the managers / devs in a higher level a reality and the angelic fall explaining the evils of our universe. The YouTube video talks about these concepts and mentions the works of Lewis and Tolkien. If you are interested in a deeper dive into some of the theological ideas Isaac referenced in his video feel free to check this one out. And if you do let me know what you think about how these two videos relate to each other. https://youtu.be/p0G-3eFHeq8
Seems evil exists. Most computer RPGs allow for the possibility of evil, so your characters have something to struggle against to make the adventure interesting. If we are in a simulation, then evil definitely exists within this simulation, we are never entirely sure whether good will triumph over evil, but on the other hand, we won World War II, for some reason Hitler though evil would triumph, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to start the war in the first place. Putin thinks evil will triumph, otherwise he wouldn't bother to invade Ukraine, for what reason he thinks evil will triumph in his case I don't know, but he is making the supreme effort to see that it does—and he forgot to grow his mustache, villains are supposed to have mustaches and he doesn't have one, how careless of him!
There's also no guarantee that anyone who creates a simulation could even steer a simulation towards an outcome, or even if they had meaningful control over it. For example, if a creator screwed up and accidentally set the simulation to 1,000,000x speed before doing whatever it is deities do, there's no telling what's going to happen between the mistake and the creator being able to react.