= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Lumifer comments on Open Thread May 30 - June 5, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (95)
The baggage is part of the meaning of the word. Look it up in a good dictionary. Look at how it's actually used.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. If you mean that you agree that they're different special cases of a single general idea, then I think we are in agreement (and I just don't understand why you're so determined to call them "the same" when they are in fact not the same). But if you mean that they are not merely different special cases, but that each in fact has the exact same meaning as (what I'm claiming to be) the more general idea, I think that's flatly wrong.
(The best answer I can see: our universe is being simulated by the Mind of God. No, says the traditionalist Christian, our universe is not a part of God, it is not a mere mental creation; it is an actual separate thing.)
Suppose traditionalist Christians are right in every detail. Then creationism is correct; if creationism and simulationism are the same thing, then simulationism must also be correct. In that case, please tell me what is simulating our universe.
Suppose our universe was made by a hacker in another universe who set his unthinkably powerful computer simulating universes with random simple-ish physical laws and has since then completely forgotten the program is even running. Then simulationism is correct; if creationism and simulationism are the same thing, then creationism must also be correct. In that case, please tell me what being plays the role of God in this scenario.
(The best answer I can see: the hacker is God. But he doesn't even know our universe exists and certainly has no idea what's going on within it. In principle he could discover the program running on his computer, find a way of inspecting its state, and figure out what that means in terms of in-universe events; but as it happens he has nowhere near the brainpower or the patience for that. Neither is he supremely wise or good or anything of the sort. He just happens to have a really fast computer.)