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Neil deGrasse Tyson Says It's 'Very Likely' The Universe Is A Simulation (extremetech.com)

mspohr quotes a report from ExtremeTech: At the most recent Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, [scientists gathered to address the question for the year: Is the universe a computer simulation? At the debate, host and celebrity astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson argued that the probability is that we live in a computer simulation.] This is the crux of Tyson's point: if we take it as read that it is, in principle, possible to simulate a universe in some way, at some point in the future, then we have to assume that on an infinite timeline some species, somewhere, will simulate the universe. And if the universe will be perfectly, or near-perfectly, simulated at some point, then we have to examine the possibility that we live inside such a universe. And, on a truly infinite timeline, we might expect an almost infinite number of simulations to arise from an almost infinite number or civilizations -- and indeed, a sophisticated-enough simulation might be able to let its simulated denizens themselves run universal simulations, and at that point all bets are officially off."

10 of 830 comments (clear)

  1. Yes... Vwery interesting... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like deGrasse Tyson, "back in the day" I enjoyed LSD as well, when you could get the real thing. These days, I've dialed it down to occasional weed and red wine...

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    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  2. shut up before you kill us all by kylemonger · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the fastest way to get the plug pulled on the simulation you're living in? Convince a significant fraction of the population that their existence is pointless because they live in a simulation. This will corrupt whatever experiment that's supposed to be occurring and the outraged grad student will ragequit the simulation and start over. Or maybe he'll restore from decades-old backups and arrange bizarre and agonizing deaths for Tyson and that meddling philosopher Bostrom.

    1. Re:shut up before you kill us all by chuckugly · · Score: 3, Funny

      For who and who?

    2. Re:shut up before you kill us all by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why would living in a simulation make life any more pointless than it is now ?

      as long as there's central air, good healthcare and tasty bacon, I could care less. and yes, you need the 2nd because of the 3rd, I fully realize that.

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      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  3. Worried about the griefers ... by perpenso · · Score: 5, Funny

    Personally I'm worried about the griefers who are now going to try to crash the sim.

  4. Re:Utter crap by myowntrueself · · Score: 1, Funny

    These celebrity scientists are annoying. More proof that just because someone calls themselves a "scientist" doesn't mean they know jack shit about anything.

    Ah yes, Neil-Degrasse Tyson, the man who said "There are more stars in our galaxy than there are atoms in the universe!"

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    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  5. Of Course It Is by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    And not a very good simulation at that. Whoever wrote it couldn't even synchronize time, even at a local level. And that hard coded top speed limit? Because "No one in there is ever going to need to go that fast anyway" I bet. And the way it shits itself when you put too much mass in one place? Very sloppy! It's probably just the N-Dimensional equivalent of a potato battery, proudly displayed at "Take your Kindred-Daughter to work day", for a very inefficient method of converting hydrogen into plutonium.

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    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  6. Re: He proves again... by tlambert · · Score: 5, Funny

    "You live in the blue state, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You live in the red state, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." -- Morpheus

  7. So.... by spiritplumber · · Score: 4, Funny

    it's LOGO turtles all the way down.

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    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
  8. With over 7,000,000,000 people on earth, by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny

    odds are that you're not you.

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    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade