How so? By “hard problem” do you mean defining what consciousness is?

"the hard problem" (of consicousness) is a well known term in philosophy, science, metaphysics, just look it up.

Even without consciousness, the existence of the universe faces the same causality issues.

All the talk of simulations, multiverses, etc is IMO expending a lot of effort to avoid facing the possibility of a Creator - the “uncaused cause” or something existing outside of time and space.

The presence of a creator does not change anything. Who created the creator?

That’s the point - something completely beyond our notions of causality or the arrow of time has to be at the foundation of it.

The creator remains without a creation. The notion that most schools of thought have is, the creator is unborn and born at the same time and has always existed. Creator does not have a point of creation, not even death because those rules only apply to the materialistic universe.

That's quite a cop out. Excuse me if I don't take your word for it.

It isn't a cop out because the creator in the conclusion of this type of argument (e.g. Aquinas' third way) is not just another contingent being like other things, but rather a being whose existence is necessary in itself.

> Aquinas' third way

Thank you! This was very interesting to read about. Learned something new today :D

The simulation theory is literally a species of creationism, which I find quite amusing.