elharo comments on [Paper] On the 'Simulation Argument' and Selective Scepticism - Less Wrong

11 Post author: Pablo_Stafforini 18 May 2013 06:31PM

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Comment author: elharo 20 May 2013 10:57:29AM *  0 points [-]

I think the likelihood of our descendants simulating us is negligible. While it is remotely conceivable that some super-simulators who are astronomically larger than us and not necessarily subject to the same physical laws, could pull off such a simulation, I think there is no chance that our descendants, limited by the energy output of a star, the number of atoms in a few planets, and the speed of light barrier, could plausibly simulate us at the level of detail we experience.

This is the classic fractal problem. As the map becomes more and more accurate, it become larger and larger until it is the same size as the territory. The only simulation our descendants could possibly achieve, assuming they don't have better things to do with their time, would be much less detailed than reality.