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You have probably heard the argument that the universe is a computer simulation. The idea is quite simple: everything we know, experience and … well, we are, are nothing more than bytes in a cosmic computer.
The logic is difficult to disprove. If it is hypothetically possible for any civilization to simulate a universe, there will be more simulations than “real” ones.
Which means that, statistically, we are more likely to be software than emergent physical beings.
I can’t fault the argument, except around what it even means to “simulate a universe.”
I know a lot of people who believe it.
But I don’t know anyone who cares.
It’s like … okay, so what? If the universe is a simulation, what does that mean for humanity?
For science?
How should I live my life?
The concept does not fit most people. They consciously understand the idea and appreciate the argument. But who lives his life as if it were true?
Consider in comparison: Some people believe in a loving and almighty god. Some believe that the universe is replete with consciousness and psychic energy. Others believe in the capitalism of secular humanism as the driving force of civilization. For many of these people, it changes things.
How they see the world and themselves.
How they act.
What do they aspire to?
But the simulated universe doesn’t seem to change much.
People who believe seem to forget that they believe until they remember it, hardly in the way they would hope to respond to the greatest philosophical revelation in history.
What causes the mediocre response? Is it a case of social conformity? Is it acceptable to be passionate about religion or politics, but not about technological philosophy?
Maybe, I do not know.
But I suspect that the idea does not resonate with us unconsciously.
If you are a religious person, you can study your faith consciously. But unconsciously, in your emotions, instincts, dreams and experiences, is where you live it.
However, the simulated universe hypothesis is just an idea. Do not let conscious thought penetrate your unconscious.
Therefore, it does not affect your emotions, instincts, dreams or experiences much.
It remains a philosophical toy, not the key to universal truth.
There is a lesson in this: your unconscious is powerful. More powerful than you could appreciate. It prevents (or encourages) strange ideas from changing their behavior.
That’s why people know they should smoke less, eat better, and sleep more … but they don’t. Knowing is a conscious activity, while your habits come from your unconscious.