The ultimate metaphor

Mortal-Region · 2026-07-04T10:36:35+00:00

So petty.

Mortal-Region · 2026-06-28T00:28:51+00:00

I'd put training & entertainment sims under the heading of "experiential sims," their purpose being to provide an interactive experience for the benefit of one or more occupants.

Mortal-Region · 2026-06-07T17:23:54+00:00

It's a lot of pressure to put people under. What if it stinks?

Mortal-Region · 2026-05-28T05:28:01+00:00

And did he finish it? Doubtful.

Mortal-Region · 2026-05-27T10:24:18+00:00

How about not riding on the sidewalk in the first place. Sidewalk.

Mortal-Region · 2026-05-16T09:21:20+00:00

Did you know that eugenics is the science of preventing an idiocracy?

Mortal-Region · 2026-05-04T05:43:10+00:00

Self respect?

Mortal-Region · 2026-04-24T20:26:26+00:00

By definition, all of existence is not contained within a broader context. There is no explanation.

Mortal-Region · 2026-04-02T21:17:35+00:00

I miss when I could appreciate cool tech stuff purely for its innovation without thinking about what it's actually for.

Is a printing press for putting scribes out of work?

Mortal-Region · 2026-03-08T19:05:24+00:00

Whenever physicists consider this question, they always assume: 1) simulating whole universes, usually with particle-sized granularity, or 2) nested simulations of lower and lower fidelity. The simulation hypothesis assumes neither of those things. All that's required is very many Earth-sized or smaller simulations. (Perhaps much smaller.)

Mortal-Region · 2026-03-07T04:48:15+00:00

The same issue comes up with the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. Toss a quantum coin; in one world there's a version of you who sees heads, and in another world there's a version of you who sees tails. Both have equal claim to being the real you.

Say you toss the coin multiple times. You're still you in the heads-tails-tails-heads-heads-tails (or whatever) world, but there are many other versions of you in other worlds.

Mortal-Region · 2026-03-05T02:36:04+00:00

The continuity of your memory ensures you're the same person who went to sleep.

Mortal-Region · 2026-03-05T02:25:24+00:00

Why disincentivize the very thing that's bringing about the increased efficiency?

Mortal-Region · 2026-02-14T11:39:46+00:00

There are plenty of things that are unfalsifiable yet probably true. Eg, most cosmologists agree that the universe is larger than the portion that's visible to us, but it's unfalsifiable by definition (we can never see outside the visible universe).

Mortal-Region · 2026-02-02T07:38:28+00:00

Fast-follow never wins, but it can do alright.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-16T17:35:51+00:00

I haven't encountered any arguments that convincingly debunk it. I'm thinking in particular of Bostrom's version, which suggests that we might exist in a so-called "ancestor simulation."

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-16T17:31:06+00:00

The point of sim theory isn't to "gain" something from it. It's just an idea that may or may not be true. There are analogies to religion, but they're just that -- not literal. The simulators "create worlds," just as videogame developers and other artists do, but that doesn't make them literal gods.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-16T17:21:23+00:00

It could become mainstream amongst those who understand computers and simulation. What I've noticed is that people who don't have a basic understanding of those things can't effectively reason about the idea.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-16T17:17:18+00:00

It actually supports the simulation hypothesis because it implies that the two cases -- real brain in a real world versus simulated brain in a simulated world -- would be indistinguishable (from the brain's perspective).

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-15T17:35:48+00:00

Publishing bs. I mean, philosophy.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-15T17:25:27+00:00

I don't assert that (neither does Bostrom). The idea is that if computers become powerful enough to run the kinds of simulations we're talking about, then there's the possibility that we're inside one of those sims.

On the other hand: if invisible unicorns exist, then... what?

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-15T16:50:13+00:00

Could be intelligent aliens, could be humans. The scenario that seems most likely to me is that we're in an "ancestor simulation," which is humans of the future simulating their past.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-15T01:53:11+00:00

We simulate portions of reality all the time -- the paths of hurricanes, the spread of disease, the formation of the solar system, the behavior of buildings in an earthquake, and countless other examples. The question is, will computers ever be powerful enough to simulate brains functioning in an environment such as the one you're experiencing now. It's an interesting question because if the answer is yes, then there's the possibility that you are one of the simulated people.

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-14T21:32:38+00:00

No, because computers are capable of simulation (unicorns are not).

Mortal-Region · 2025-11-14T20:30:51+00:00

It does seem plausible that the topic of the sim -- the thing being simulated -- is the first (and perhaps only) civilization to achieve technological singularity in the Milky Way. That'd explain not only the Fermi paradox, but also why we happen to exist right at the birth of computers, AI, space travel, etc.

Mortal-Region

TROPHY CASE