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What if we all live in a simulation?




Online games are very popular. Who would not have heard or played the SIMs or Second Life? Or perhaps, who would have not been to the Iron Forge in the World of WarCraft or at the Arktuis Village in Shaiya?

These online games allow us to choose and design our own characters. And most of all, we are controlling these characters as the game progresses.

In SIMS, we can choose the physical appearance (e.g. color of hair, eyes, skin, eye shadow, lipstick, height, clothes, etc.) and the traits (active, lazy, etc.) plus the job and interests. Here's how my SIMS character looked like.

In this simulation game, we can create a pickpocket or a politician and become super rich. We may also become a person who loves to kiss a lot and have romance. Just like in real life, SIMs characters get tired, hungry, dirty, stinky, and sleepy. Most of all, they also die if not controlled properly.

In online games like WoW or Shaiya, killing mobs or monsters is the name of the game. The more we kill, the better. But unlike SIMS, we can resurrect here when we die. So you get a second or third life , or even more. In SIMS, on the other hand, it is possible to stop yourself from getting old by drinking a potion.

Well, we can practically do what we wish to do in online games. We can choose to be kind or be arrogant in the game. We can opt to kill our own character if we wish to. We can make our characters rich or famous or even notorious -- that is if we want to.

But the emerging issue these days is the debate on the possibility that we all live in a simulation.

Yes, what if we were all in simulation games or online games like SIMS or WoW? What if someone BIG is there, trying to heal us or run our own lives?

Professor Nick Bostrom came up with an interesting question: ARE YOU LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION?

The Simulation Debate will make gamers and even non-gamers think: WHAT IF YOU AND I EXIST ONLY IN A SIMULATED PLACE AND THAT THERE'S SOMEONE HAVING FUN OF YOU AND ME?


If we were in a simulation, would we want to be resurrected?

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