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A comment on If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at the hardware level. Parent comment

Re:If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at... by dofm on Monday July 27, 2026 @08:24AM (#49068650)
> but it presupposes that there is a theory of everything that can be used to perfectly simulate the universe, and I'd like to remind everybody that we still don't know whether such a thing exists

Is it even possible that a complete simulation of the rules of this universe (let alone the content of it) could exist in this universe?

I am no expert but I did manage to read most of GEB [0] so I feel fully qualified to say that it feels like something Gödel would have opinions about?

[0] the honest nerd's "did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night"

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at... by eru on Monday July 27, 2026 @08:30AM (#49068725)
> Is it even possible that a complete simulation of the rules of this universe (let alone the content of it) could exist in this universe?

Yes, it is possible! See how a Quine is constructed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing)

As an analogy: you can have a zip archive that expands to itself. Or even more so: to itself (the simulation of itself in itself) plus something arbitrary (standing in for the rest of the universe).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at... by CorrectHorseBat on Monday July 27, 2026 @08:50AM (#49068938)
There's also information in the compiler and the zip binary, without that I'm pretty sure it's not possible.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at... by eru on Monday July 27, 2026 @09:34AM (#49069516)
You can stick a full copy of the compiler and the zip binary into that archive, if you want to.

The 'intron' can be arbitrarily large.

You can add the complete schematics for your CPU. And the standard model of particle physics.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:If digital computers are conscious, they are conscious at... by cwillu on Monday July 27, 2026 @08:29AM (#49068708)
It is entirely possible (if perhaps unlikely) that the correct theory of everything is a relatively straightforward expansion of the current standard model.
[ Parent | on HN ]