Note: this is a thought-experiment, not to be taken too seriously.
We live in a simulated universe
In his famous simulation argument, the transhumanist Bostrom (2003, 2011) posits that we are living in a computer-generated reality. The logic behind this assumption is that an advanced civilization, with enormous computing power, might want to create agents with a powerful artificial intelligence, that would be evolving in a simulated world (think of an infinitely more advanced The Sims Game). These sims (i.e., the virtual intelligences populating the simulation) might be endowed with consciousness, and live their lives in this world, unable to distinguish its simulated nature from the “primary” reality. Moreover, similarly to games that are running on many computers in the world, there could be an important number of these simulated worlds. Moreover, it could reach a point where a simulation could be created inside another simulation. Thus, the number of “sims” would quickly exceed the number of consciousness’s living in the primary (i.e., non-computer-generated) reality. Consequently, it is statistically plausible that we are, indeed, simulated “sims” living in a simulated reality.
