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Nornagest comments on Physicists To Test If Universe Is A Computer Simulation (link) - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: D_Alex 17 April 2013 02:23AM

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Comment author: Nornagest 17 April 2013 09:47:09PM 1 point [-]

It seems to me that if you were going to create a universal simulation, you would do it because you wanted to see what would happen inside. And we humans have a rather strong attachment to existing, so we should try to continue that state of affairs as far as possible. Therefore, in this scenario, every human being would have a solemn duty to make the world as interesting as possible.

That seems to share some ideas with Neal Stephenson's fictional religion of Kelx, as described in Anathem.

Comment author: gryffinp 17 April 2013 10:36:43PM *  0 points [-]

Ah. This one, I've read.

Thank you by the way, I had actually remembered about that as I was typing this up (In a sort of "Speaking of Religions with unusual premises..." way), but forgotten what it was called and who came up with it. I had speculated that it might have been from a Heinlein novel, since the half-remembered premise of "lone protagonist is saved from arctic peril and then gets to listen to someone politely explain their philosophy" sounded vaguely Heinleinish.

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