Brent Meeker writes:
> David Nyman wrote:
> > Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Perhaps it says something about the nature of the simulation's creators,
> >>but I don't see that it says anything about the probability that we are
> >>living in one.
> >
> >
> > Do you mean that if we are living in one, then the moral standards of
> > its creators are reprehensible (to our way of thinking) or at least
> > opaque?
>
> But the hypothesis that the creators are like us is part of the
> justification for supposing they would run simulations of intelligent
> beings. If you then argue that their motivations and ethics might be alien
> to us, you've discarded any reason for supposing they would simulate us.
They're not just simulating us, are they? They might have just slapped
together a virtual universe in an idle moment to see how it turns out. Maybe
they're more interested in star formation, or bacteria or something. Is an E. coli
in your gut justified in thinking God made the universe, including human guts,
just for its benefit?
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Wed Aug 09 2006 - 08:04:57 PDT