What if we were a video game?

by EndofMysteries 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  EndofMysteries

  To imagine this, just imagine creating one yourself, like a video game. You create a virtual world, you design a planet, even a universe if you choose to. You focus on one planet and design it, create life on it. You need to make the world self sufficient so you design the plants, animal life, etc, cycles, water, everything all around that. Then you design humans as well, and you give them AI so advanced, that they become self aware and they are also able to learn and grow.

  You are God to them. Since you were around before creating their universe, you were always there. This entire world is all within a little hard drive on your computer. It's constantly running and you check back from time to time to see how it's going and occassionaly intervene with things.

  Imagine if our situation is the same, we are merely a computer game/program in some computer and not even apart of the real world.
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  nancy drew

  Another uncomfortable possibility in a long list of unpleasant thoughts on the meaning of life.
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  DATA-DOG

  I would use the "screw attack" on the GB.

  DD
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  adamah

  What if we were insects? What if insects were us? What if Gods were humans, and we are Gods to insects? What if we were a new type of life form which hasn't even discovered been yet?

  Such colorful and entertaining (but pointless and time-wasting) philosophical questions are closely related to religion, but that's why the philosophy of science is based on certain fundamental pre-suppositions, and relies on skepticism: we avoid time wasting questions so we can move on to actually discover and describe what IS, and not worry about what MIGHT be (such speculation is usually driven by a fear of the unknown). A skeptic worries about what is likely to be, not the long-shots; they worry about what is PROVEN, not by what is DISPROVEN or MIGHT be.

  Included amongst the fundamental presuppositions of science is that we accept that us and the World exists (eg it might be a video game, or we may all exist in someone's dream, but there's no evidence presented to suggest it, and untimately it's unprovable), we accept that logic and reasoning works, that patterns can be observed in matter that allows us to predict it's behavior, etc.

  Google the 'fundmantal presuppositions of science', or 'the philosophy of science' for more info.

  Adam
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  looter

  I always thought something like that about life. The reality of it is that, if something like that happened in our world like if someone creates a world designed by a super computer and becomes a god or deity to it, would not he eventually grow uninterested in his creation after a while? Lots of people leave what they have created themselves and go onto other things. If there was really a god, I would imagine he would be done with humans by now and not be fooling around with them making them wait for a judgement day.
• 

  adamah

  Looter said- I always thought something like that about life. The reality of it is that, if something like that happened in our world like if someone creates a world designed by a super computer and becomes a god or deity to it, would not he eventually grow uninterested in his creation after a while? Lots of people leave what they have created themselves and go onto other things.

  Interesting point, as kids outgrow and tire of their ant farms, Gameboys, etc.

  But sure, it's possible that the Universe COULD be the result some elaborate virtual-reality program running in some supercomputer, etc.

  Of course, all of these scenarios and analogies are really just various permutations of asking how we got to be here, and all lead to the age-old infinite regression problem, "So, who made God?" (or to fit the analogy, "WHO made the supercomputer and programmers?")

  So it's basically a reformulation or translation of the age-old question, and we don't anywhere closer to answering the question by creating with modern analogies.

  Adam
• 

  Bobcat

  EOM:

  Have you ever seen "The Thirteenth Floor"? (And here.)
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  jgnat

  What if we were an ordinary primate that found a better way to access nutrition?

  http://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain.html

  Trust me, you will never look at your stove the same way again.
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  aposta-Z

  That the videogame I'd like to play.