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Articles

The Simulated Universe

Brent Silby asks, is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?

The Simulated Universe Argument suggests that the universe we inhabit is an elaborate emulation of the real universe. Everything, including the people, animals, plants and bacteria are part of the simulation. The simulation also extends further than the Earth: all the planets, asteroids, comets, stars, galaxies, black holes, nebula and other space debris are also part of the simulation: in fact our entire Universe is a simulation running inside an extremely advanced computer system designed by a super intelligent species which lives in a parent universe.

In this article I will provide an exposition of the Simulated Universe Argument, and explain why some philosophers believe that there is a high probability that we exist in a simulation. I will then discuss the type of evidence that we would need to have to determine whether or not we exist in a simulation.

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