Tech Billionairs convinced we live in the Matrix and are trying to find a way out

[Beefsquatch]

Some of the world’s richest and most powerful people are convinced that we are living in a computer simulation. And now they’re trying to do something about it.

At least two of Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires are pouring money into efforts to break humans out of the simulation that they believe that it is living in, according to a new report.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...-a7347526.html

Among those Billionaires, it seems like Elon Musk and the CEO of Bank of America are funding this secret operation.

Hypothetically speaking, if it turned out to be true that we are in a Matrix of sorts, how do you think the world would react to such news? What would be the ramifications of a discovery like this?

[Azadina]

They can send me few hundred million to prove they are right. If they are, what's there to lose.

[Ashelorh]

This sounds like absolute retardation if you're not familiar with the theory. Here's how it goes : If it is POSSIBLE to recreate our universe, it's a one in a billion chance that we are the first one to do it, since you have let's say "universe A" and they create an universe identical to theirs, eventually that universe will reach the point where they also create another universe, then the one after too, so on and so forth. If you believe that it is possible to recreate our universe, you also believe that there's an astronomically small chance of us being the "prime" and "true" universe, and I assume these people believe that you can reproduce the universe.

[chunx0r]

Elon's argument is pretty sound. He says that 40 years ago video games were pac man and pong. Now we have VR AR and console games with graphics that are borderline photo realistic. If we continue to progress at any fraction of current rate we will eventually end up with simulations indistinguishable from reality. Continue that progress further, set top boxes PCs phones would be able to run these simulations. Leading to billions of indistinguishable simulations. Thus the chance of us being in "base" reality is 1 in billions.

He also makes the side point this is the optimistic outlook, because if we don't eventually reach indistinguishable simulations that probably means society collapses.

Personally I can't find a flaw in the argument.

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This sounds like absolute retardation if you're not familiar with the theory. Here's how it goes : If it is POSSIBLE to recreate our universe, it's a one in a billion chance that we are the first one to do it, since you have let's say "universe A" and they create an universe identical to theirs, eventually that universe will reach the point where they also create another universe, then the one after too, so on and so forth. If you believe that it is possible to recreate our universe, you also believe that there's an astronomically small chance of us being the "prime" and "true" universe, and I assume these people believe that you can reproduce the universe.

So your counter argument is technology has a finite cap? Current pace of technological advancement will at some point stop and we won't be able to simulate the universe?

[Alopex]

As long as we get some pretty sweet tech out of their "efforts", might as well let them spend their money

[SoundOfGuns]

I don't think i have the knowledge to determine if we live in a Matrix or not. I just like to imagine the outcome if it was found out as fact. Im sure 85% of all people would flat out deny it regardless, some people would go apeshit, some people would suffer a mental breakdown and i would just be there. "Huh, neat!" and wonder how to activate creative-mode.

[Ashelorh]

Elon's argument is pretty sound. He says that 40 years ago video games were pac man and pong. Now we have VR AR and console games with graphics that are borderline photo realistic. If we continue to progress at any fraction of current rate we will eventually end up with simulations indistinguishable from reality. Continue that progress further, set top boxes PCs phones would be able to run these simulations. Leading to billions of indistinguishable simulations. Thus the chance of us being in "base" reality is 1 in billions.

He also makes the side point this is the optimistic outlook, because if we don't eventually reach indistinguishable simulations that probably means society collapses.

Personally I can't find a flaw in the argument.

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So your counter argument is technology has a finite cap? Current pace of technological advancement will at some point stop and we won't be able to simulate the universe?

I'm not arguing against or for it. I'm not educated enough to know if whether or not there is a cap on technological advancement. I don't know what to think.

[Beefsquatch]

I don't think i have the knowledge to determine if we live in a Matrix or not. I just like to imagine the outcome if it was found out as fact. Im sure 85% of all people would flat out deny it regardless, some people would go apeshit, some people would suffer a mental breakdown and i would just be there. "Huh, neat!" and wonder how to activate creative-mode.

That's an interesting thought, hope you don't mind but I'm going to add that question to the OP. I think it would bring about an interesting discussion =)

[apples]

I don't think i have the knowledge to determine if we live in a Matrix or not. I just like to imagine the outcome if it was found out as fact. Im sure 85% of all people would flat out deny it regardless, some people would go apeshit, some people would suffer a mental breakdown and i would just be there. "Huh, neat!" and wonder how to activate creative-mode.

no.

none of that would happen as whether or not you live in a simulation doesnt matter.

just like whether you live in the 3rd 4th 9th 144th dimension doesnt matter

it doesnt put food on your plate

its all academic

[Independent voter]

If you can find a flaw in our simulation, the simulation we are all avatars in, maybe you can hack it. Maybe Elon will be able to fly, move really fast or blink from Paris to New York in an instant? All common things hackers have been doing to MMOs for years.

[Deleted]

We extremely far off simulating the universe, let alone earth, let alone one city on earth, let alone one house on this planet, let alone anything really... Take a look at tripple A games of today like GTA5 or whatever... sure it looks great from our limited perspective and expectations.. but compared to the amount of detail reality has it is NOTHING. It is all make believe with hollow parts, textures and models.

We can't simulate the desk my computer is sitting on with even 100% accuracy, let alone the universe... We can't do it and we are still nowhere in this regard.

[Revik]

Elon's argument is pretty sound. He says that 40 years ago video games were pac man and pong. Now we have VR AR and console games with graphics that are borderline photo realistic. If we continue to progress at any fraction of current rate we will eventually end up with simulations indistinguishable from reality. Continue that progress further, set top boxes PCs phones would be able to run these simulations. Leading to billions of indistinguishable simulations. Thus the chance of us being in "base" reality is 1 in billions.

He also makes the side point this is the optimistic outlook, because if we don't eventually reach indistinguishable simulations that probably means society collapses.

Personally I can't find a flaw in the argument.

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So your counter argument is technology has a finite cap? Current pace of technological advancement will at some point stop and we won't be able to simulate the universe?

The flaw is why would we choose to live in this kind of world where most of the people in the world are miserable? If we could choose among billions of realities to live in why choose this one? Is history false or did it really happen? Why choose to live in a world to backwards technologically from a place of such vastly superior technology?

Even now no one would choose to live in a world where they could die of the black plague or live in a world where they were destined to be slave? or would they?

[Deleted]

The flaw is why would we choose to live in this kind of world where most of the people in the world are miserable? If we could choose among billions of realities to live in why choose this one? Is history false or did it really happen? Why choose to live in a world to backwards technologically from a place of such vastly superior technology?

Even now no one would choose to live in a world where they could die of the black plague or live in a world where they were destined to be slave? or would they?

If I could live in the middle ages, swap this life, I would think twice about it, then go for it!

[PixelFox]

The tech equivalent of old time religion. Same issues, same low probability of truth.

[Semune]

I remember when I talked about the simulation theory and the multiverse theory years ago and people said I was a conspiracy theorist.

Now a billionaire talks about it and everyone accepts it.

Yesterday's conspiracies are today's realities.

[Semune]

Conspiracy? This has literally been philosophy 101 since like 1985

Yeah right.

This reminds me of the spying debate, after people accepted it they said "yeah we knew all along that the spying was happening", a few years prior it was a major sign of a "conspiracy theorist".

"Guys, this theory has been around and accepted for ages!".

I hate people.

[Garnier Fructis]

A lot of people are presenting qualitative flaws like the existence of suffering or whatnot, but there's another simple mathematical flaw.

The probability that we are in base reality is not 1 in a billion. That number requires that other conditions be met, so the probability that we're in base reality is the 1 in a billion plus the probability that the conditions aren't met.

It's conditional probability. If I remember correctly, the guy that created the simulation argument only thinks that it's ~20% likely that the conditions for the simulation argument hold, i.e. he assigns the probability that we aren't in a simulation to be ~80%.

[Deleted]

Elon's argument is pretty sound. He says that 40 years ago video games were pac man and pong. Now we have VR AR and console games with graphics that are borderline photo realistic. If we continue to progress at any fraction of current rate we will eventually end up with simulations indistinguishable from reality.

I did not read the article nor have I really been interested or believed in the subject before, but when you put it this way it kind of makes sense... and freaks you out. :P

[Semune]

I know you want to believe you're smarter than everyone else but the matrix came out in 1999 which popularised an already common philosophical idea.

Like do you wholeheartedly believe we live in a simulation or do you not understand philosophy?

Being around and being accepted are TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS.

I'm sure it has been "around" for MUCH longer than 30 years, but accepted is completely different. I don't blame you, you just follow the crowd which isn't a wrong way to live life.

[cubby]

This sounds like absolute retardation if you're not familiar with the theory. Here's how it goes : If it is POSSIBLE to recreate our universe, it's a one in a billion chance that we are the first one to do it, since you have let's say "universe A" and they create an universe identical to theirs, eventually that universe will reach the point where they also create another universe, then the one after too, so on and so forth. If you believe that it is possible to recreate our universe, you also believe that there's an astronomically small chance of us being the "prime" and "true" universe, and I assume these people believe that you can reproduce the universe.

You're doing that thing where you think your analysis is stronger than geniuses in their fields and then assuming we'll buy your analysis over theirs - which won't happen. Read up on Elon Musk saying that there is less than a 1-in-billion chance that we are NOT living in a simulation.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...-a7347526.html

Among those Billionaires, it seems like Elon Musk and the CEO of Bank of America are funding this secret operation.

Really interesting that they are both funding the research and have let it be made public. Perhaps they know that the general population with just blow it off and forget in a few days. Which is frighteningly true, unfortunately.

Hypothetically speaking, if it turned out to be true that we are in a Matrix of sorts, how do you think the world would react to such news? What would be the ramifications of a discovery like this?

Most of society would break down on a fundamental level - we'd be back to the Stone Age in less than a year, at best. We would NOT handle it well at all.