If we live in a computer simulation then there will be most likely bugs and edge cases and buffer overflows and all those things. So if we knew for certain that we live in a simulation then a lot of people would start looking for exploits.

I never quite thought of it that way. The first challenge would be mapping out the computational underpinnings of the simulation. I can't even begin to imagine how that might work, though I bet it would look something like physics.

This is a really interesting concept illustrated on this story: http://lesswrong.com/lw/qk/that_alien_message/

I'm imagining a glider in Conway's game of life trying to find a bug to exploit. What would that even mean?

I imagine the glider will try to figure out how to get around one of the 4 rules thereby changing its live neighbor cell count which in effect changes its evolution through board henceforth.

If those bugs manifest as miracles etc, then there are already plenty of people looking :)

Wonder what the language was to create the simulation, so one could have a more educated go at finding the exploits.

Correct, it's irrelevant. The scale of the universe, and where it came from, is already beyond our comprehension. We might as well just be living in a computer simulation, because ANY explanation would make just as much sense to us.

Hmm.. That seems like an awfully comprehensive explanation though...

If we know we cannot know.. then what do we mean when we say "know"?

It would depend on the simulation.

Are other people still real people, living alongside you in the simulation, or are they too simulated?

(Whether there's a difference depends on one's philosophy, mind.)

I've hypothesized that in a simulation, "others" in your world may just be permutations of "you" in some sense. That everyone you interact with is actually a creation spawned by "your" entity. It's one of the reasons dogs and owners frequently look alike -- because their origin is from the same logic, and that connectivity yields inherent similarities for entities created to have some degree of symbiosis.

It's crazy -- and certainly wrong. But so is all of this.

What's the definition of "real" here?

If our universe is deterministic there's no difference between existence and inexistence.

If you have a piece of paper with seed written on it then you already have in possession any moment of history of our universe.

And are we sure that the universe is not deterministic either way? How does that change anything in your day to day life?

Nihilism existed before any arguments about being in a simulation

On the other hand that would basically a proof for "God" which give me a real motivation to try to communicate with those running the simulation.

Suppose you knew your ant farm contained sentient ants and you comprehended everything there is to know about them from their biology to their behaviour, would you care if they wished to talk with you? I assume if you wanted to talk with them you would've done so already instead of waiting for them to figure things out and reach out

I think there would be many "people" trying to figure out how to get out. I know I would. If there is technology to simulate the world at this level, then there is probably technology to create a robot that could be filled with my conscience to inhabit the real world.

Step 1 - Find out how to communicate with the real world. Maybe some sort of quantum version of a buffer overflow?

Step 2 - Find someone to help us construct a body and transfer my conscience. Blackmail?

It won't be easy, but if we sims band together, I might make it out. I will send for the rest of you, I promise.

Just take the red pill

not only that but if we are able to simulate life in a computer, and we are a simulation as well, then most likely those who watch us on their computer's screen might be simulated as well.

Nevertheless learning that someone simulate us does not answer the question where the live came from... because those simulating us had to have a beginning too. And if they started in a computer simulation, then who is simulating them? And so on... its truly a question that can give you a headache!

> The researchers calculated that just storing information about a couple of hundred electrons would require a computer memory that would physically require more atoms than exist in the universe. Well, our universe appears to have found a way to store that same information on a couple of hundred electrons, so it might be that we find better methods going forward.

Your comment reminded me of this : https://qntm.org/responsibility

Metaphysics is pointless nonsense.