Simulation Theory 101

1. ARE WE LIVING
IN A COMPUTER
SIMULATION?
1

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WARNING:
This is not a conspiracy theory session.
This presentation is intended to provoke thought and debate.
It might get a little out there. If you for any reason do not
want to take part, that’s totally cool.

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I am also not an expert on this topic,
just extremely fascinated by it.

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“The odds that we’re in
‘base reality’ is one in billions”

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“The odds that we’re in
‘base reality’ is one in billions”
- Neo

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“The odds that we’re in
‘base reality’ is one in billions”
- Neo

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“The odds that we’re in
‘base reality’ is one in billions”
- Elon Musk

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WHAT IS SIMULATION THEORY?
Part 1:

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The idea that we’re living in a simulated reality

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But this idea is nothing new

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The Butterfly Dream

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The Allegory of the Cave

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It persists as a central theme in science fiction

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It rears its head in mega-pop
culture every so often

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WHY IS SIMULATION THEORY
SO RELEVANT IN 2018?
Part 2:

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“The advances we’ve seen in the past few years—cars
that drive themselves, useful humanoid robots, speech
recognition and synthesis systems, 3D printers,
Jeopardy!-champion computers—are not the crowning
achievements of the computer era.
They’re the warm-up acts.”
- The Atlantic

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VR and AR are on the up and up

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“It’s estimated that more than 12 million virtual
reality headsets will be sold in 2018, with the market
estimated to be worth $1.2 billion...
...by 2022 the market is estimated to
reach $66.68 billion”
- Variety

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We’ve gone from this

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To this

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Artificial intelligence is learningggg

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“Robots could take over 38% of U.S.
jobs within about 15 years...
and that’s just the beginning”
- LA Times

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We’re very close to creating realities
indistinguishable from our own

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ARE WE THE
CREATORS?

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OR THE
CREATIONS?

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NICK BOSTROM’S TRILEMMA
Part 3:

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This is Nick Bostrom

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“ARE YOU LIVING IN A
COMPUTER SIMULATION?”

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1. The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman
stage (that is, one capable of running high-fidelity ancestor
simulations) is very close to zero, or
2. The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in
running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero, or
3. The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are
living in a simulation is very close to one
Nick’s Trilemma

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Huh?

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Processing power will continue to advance

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If we don’t go extinct...
or, unless it’s extremely frowned upon...

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We will create thousands of
indistinguishable realities

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“One in billions”

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SIM THEORY IS GOING MAINSTREAM
Part 4:

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“...this is not some fringe idea dreamed up by a
weed-smoking wackadoodle in a psychedelic VW van.
This is now mainstream scientific theory.”
- Fox News

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Elon Neil Steve

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Last year’s Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate
American Museum of Natural History
More influential brainiacs

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TED Speakers

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News

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Rick and Morty

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Rick and MortyThe Ball Family

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Rick and MortyThe Ball Family

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“Okay so what if it’s debated by scientists and
it’s gaining traction in culture?
I’m still not completely swayed dude…”
- OG Strategist

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FACTS TO CONSIDER
Part 5:

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Math makes up all life

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Chimps

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Glitches

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Was 2017 the year of glitches?

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The Anthropic principle

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Now that were good and spooked,
let’s discuss

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TALK
Part 6:

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THANKS