
Neil deGrasse Tyson: it’s a simulation
Neil deGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist and author, is somebody credited with popularizing science in recent times. He is described as charismatic and outspoken and unsurprisingly has a strong view on simulation theory.
In the following video, Tyson is having fun on the matter but thinks that in all probability we are part of a simulation, given the technological advances of recent times.
He thinks that limitations may exist in our reality (or simulation) to give programmers a head start – as if programming takes place on demand. He also believes that computation limitations are shown through rendering (quantum indeterminacy), so only what consciousness perceives would need to be generated at a given time. That, as you may know by now, would be an optimization technique which suggests computational parameters.
Tyson believes at first glance the numbers are infinitely in favor of the simulation argument. He later asserts (after reading The Doomsday Calculations) that the numbers flip, more like to a 50-50, given that if this was a simulated world, we should already have the power to simulate another similar simulated world. Given we haven’t arrived there yet, he says the odds drop dramatically.
He later goes on to suggest that we may be in a simulated era before we have the ability to simulate, almost like a romantic period, which may be in line with ancestral simulations (one of Bostrom’s theories).
What do you think?
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