Elon Musk makes the argument that we're living in a simulation

[Shawn Knight]

You’ve probably heard the theory that life as we know it is little more than a computer simulation in which we are all oblivious to. That may sound silly but some of the world’s brightest minds including astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil deGrasse Tyson think otherwise.

During the annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate at the American Museum of Natural History last month, Tyson put the odds at 50-50 that we’re a simulation.

Pointing out the gap between human and chimpanzee intelligence despite the fact that we share 98 percent of our DNA, he theorized that somewhere out there could be a being whose intelligence is that much greater than ours. If that’s the case, he said, it’s easy to imagine that everything in our lives is just a creation of some other entity for their entertainment.

At Re/code’s Code Conference, serial entrepreneur Elon Musk was asked to touch on this very subject. His remarks may surprise you. The full interview can be watched here.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/65078-elon-musk-makes-argument-living-simulation.html

 

[davislane1]

How is this tech related? Did he demo the latest Reality firmware?

 

[Skjorn]

How is this tech related? Did he demo the latest Reality firmware?

I think its tech related because it involves you being apart of a computer?? These theories were always a joke to me. If this is the case then there is a hack for infinite health right? Why cant people just accept that we have no idea what's going on. Please tell me wacky Elon makes some kind of electronic worship cult similar to scientology.

 

[Igrecman]

There is no spoon. The Matrix is a prophecy. Neo is the next Deity.

 

[Camikazi]

How is this tech related? Did he demo the latest Reality firmware?

I think its tech related because it involves you being apart of a computer?? These theories were always a joke to me. If this is the case then there is a hack for infinite health right? Why cant people just accept that we have no idea what's going on. Please tell me wacky Elon makes some kind of electronic worship cult similar to scientology.

Just because we work with tech and might be in a super computer doesn't mean we can hack it. I mean I have not found a game where the AI can actually hack the game itself unless it is programmed to do something similar (like Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear). BTW, accepting we have no idea what's going on is not going to stop people from trying to figure out what is going on, that type of thinking is what got us to the place we are now, we want to know everything and will work to figure it out.

 

[davislane1]

I think its tech related because it involves you being apart of a computer??

I think this had more to do with Musk moving his lips.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Musk is so lame. This idea of reality not being what it seems has been a philosophical problem for as long as we have written records. The guys getting the press also always use the current paradigm of the day, for example we have had the 'mechanical universe' likely around Newton's day, since today computers are omnipresent every wise guy comes up with some computational model.
How's this one. We are all only 'ideas' in the mind of God. God keeps it all in sync. No physical reality. Let's say you have the idea to reach out, take your cup of coffee and take a drink. It seems you have created a cause and effect situation from your mind to a physical reality. But your reaching out for the cup and taking a drink could have been done in the mind of God who kept things in sync so to speak. Imagine two clocks keeping the same time. They are both in sync, yet are not causally related. I could argue it's the same between you and your coffee

 

[Raoul Duke]

Sorry for the edit @davislane1, hope you still like it LOL

 

[Puiu]

That 2% keeps getting quoted even though most don't even understand what it means.

 

[captaincranky]

So, it's finally been brought to everyone's attention, Musk is an utter windbag and a complete a**hole. This completely validates me. I've been right all along.

Before we had computers, "who's to say you're not a figment of my imagination, nor I a figment of yours", was dogma we used to freak out low time stoners... If you want to learn "existentialism", read Sartre. Just one of his books can keep you bored witless for months on end. Even Nietzsche makes more sense than Sartre, while Musk emits what could only be described as, "mouth farts"..

It really should be a class A misdemeanor to hand Musk a microphone, and a felony to point a camera at him.....

 

[Skjorn]

[/QUOTE]
Just because we work with tech and might be in a super computer doesn't mean we can hack it. I mean I have not found a game where the AI can actually hack the game itself unless it is programmed to do something similar (like Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear). BTW, accepting we have no idea what's going on is not going to stop people from trying to figure out what is going on, that type of thinking is what got us to the place we are now, we want to know everything and will work to figure it out.[/QUOTE] edit: I always screw quotes up in forums

Accepting that we don't really know got us to where we are? I'd think it was more like cultures think they knew the answers and thats why we are where we are. Oorrr if were just a program is it editable? Is all the information we seek even included in the program? Or can it get added later on via sacrifice like DLC *Hits blunt*

 

[davislane1]

Sorry for the edit @davislane1, hope you still like it LOL

I stand by the like. More people need to know about philosophy 101.

 

[mcborge]

So instead of an analogue creation theory we now have a digital one. As an atheist I cant get my head around an "all powerful creator" of any kind.

 

[davislane1]

So, it's finally been brought to everyone's attention, Musk is an utter windbag and a complete a**hole. This completely validates me. I've been right all along.

This doesn't count. Musk dropping the Brain in a Vat theory of the universe is the same thing as a nurse dropping news of a brand spankin' new 1080p 60Hz display on someone who just woke from a 20yr coma. He just wanted to make his groupies feel good.

So instead of an analogue creation theory we now have a digital one. As an atheist I cant get my head around an "all powerful creator" of any kind.

It's fairly simple, actually. Being (A) creates a system (B) that obeys the rules (C) determined by the coding language (D) designed by (A). Just like a programmer creates "AI" or a game world from scratch.

Some people think (A) drops hints in religious texts. Some people think (A) doesn't exist. Others concede that they don't actually know and preoccupy themselves with understanding (B) thru (D), some in hope of finding (A).

Now, someone get to reporting on this so it can masquerade as a deep philosophical revelation.

 

[captaincranky]

Country Joe & the Fish have thoughtfully provided us with a soundtrack track for the "Musk-ster's" latest, "revelation".

Les Presentamos, "Don't Bogart that Joint My Friend"......

"Like dude, we're all inside a computer. Wow man, that's heavy! Let's give it a name! So dude, I was thinking like "Dog". Nah man, you been smokin' to much of that loco weed. I think we should call him, "Muskimus Prime"! (exhales forcefully) "Duh, what's a computer"?

 

[mcborge]

This doesn't count. Musk dropping the Brain in a Vat theory of the universe is the same thing as a nurse dropping news of a brand spankin' new 1080p 60Hz display on someone who just woke from a 20yr coma. He just wanted to make his groupies feel good.



It's fairly simple, actually. Being (A) creates a system (B) that obeys the rules (C) determined by the coding language (D) designed by (A). Just like a programmer creates "AI" or a game world from scratch.

Some people think (A) drops hints in religious texts. Some people think (A) doesn't exist. Others concede that they don't actually know and preoccupy themselves with understanding (B) thru (D), some in hope of finding (A).

Now, someone get to reporting on this so it can masquerade as a deep philosophical revelation.

Very good reply... I will admit I did have to read it twice though, lol. As a species our capacity to leap beyond logic (captain kirk quote) seems to preoccupy us far far more then it should, given the state of the world around us.

 

[Raoul Duke]

When I listen to people like this, I find it very interesting to see how the people around him act/react. So I went and watched as much of the full presentation I could handle. In the comments on the side I found this gem, of which this person made several. If this is representative of more than one person, now I am really scared
"S. D. J You can tell that there's so much he knows and has discovered already yet, trying to explain it to these two people here in the most understandable and down to Earth way is challenging. This is like a 12 year old trying to have an intelligent conversation with Stephen Hawkings. Mr. Musk is brilliant!"
In the full presentation I did suffer his rambling reply to the question "why land in the ocean", but I would argue it was more like a 12 yr. old (Musk) trying to explain it to an astrophysicist (the guy that asked the question). But that's just my opinion.

 

[Raoul Duke]

So instead of an analogue creation theory we now have a digital one. As an atheist I cant get my head around an "all powerful creator" of any kind.

I was just pointing out that any of us could get together and create as many of these kinds of theories as we wanted to, there are as many as we can imagine, but in the end we would be no wiser or further ahead than when we started. These arguments are about as common as grains of sand on a beach and just as trivial.

 

[WangDangDoodle]

After all the time I've spent at the local pubs listening to guys talk about cars, boats, jobs, money and women... I think it would be refreshing to have a conversation with someone like Elon Musk. Some of you may not be too impressed with his statements, but I don't think his goal was to impress you. What I'm seeing in that video is an intelligent man having a laugh! Some punk kid pops a question, and he just rolls with it. He's shown himself to have a good sense of humor, and he's definitely the creative sort. Those are both hallmarks of intelligence.

When you get to a certain point of understanding how the world works (physics in general), it's only natural to start asking big questions, and to look for answers to those questions. Sure, this particular concept may be old, but this is about taking the concept to the next level, which is trying to explain it within the realm of science!

This stuff reminds me of talks I used to have with a friend about extra spacial dimensions/objects. What it would "look" like, and how it would appear to us. It's comical to me that people post videos on YouTube trying to show a representation of a tesseract. When you break it down, that's your average 3D being trying to show other 3D beings a 4D object on a 2D surface (the computer screen). Certain things can't be perceived by the human eye, they can only be theorized and imagined. Such as the concept discussed in this article.

 

[davislane1]

Certain things can't be perceived by the human eye, they can only be theorized and imagined. Such as the concept discussed in this article.

News: Conclusively answering a thousand year old question.

Not news: Pondering a thousand year old question.

 

[Raoul Duke]

I'll grant Elon Musk is good at business, but it stops there.

 

[captaincranky]

I'll grant Elon Musk is good at business, but it stops there.

No, he's a charismatic and a con artist, which he's been able to harness in furtherance of business. There's a big difference. How else could you have Tesla stock rise in value, after posting a 200,000,000.+ quarterly loss?

(Musk), "We'll beez a gittin' y'all those cars one day"! (Audience kneels, bows their heads and collectively sighs, "god bless you Elon").

 

[mcborge]

I was just pointing out that any of us could get together and create as many of these kinds of theories as we wanted to, there are as many as we can imagine, but in the end we would be no wiser or further ahead than when we started. These arguments are about as common as grains of sand on a beach and just as trivial.

Ain't that the truth...

 

[captaincranky]

Wow! Elon Musk said what? Click......click, click...., click,......click, click, click....,click, click....ad nauseam.

 

[OrkinCraft]

Elon Musk is living in a simulation. He doesn't have to deal with the regular people. He doesn't have to worry about money, rent, bills, or whether hes going to be able to eat that day. The rest of us are living in reality.