Turbo-Charging the Mind
Dec 30, 2012近几十年来,计算机技术的快速发展产生了大量的智能机器,它们在速度和容量上远远超过人类的思维。
Business magnate Elon Musk believes that it is highly probable that we are living in a simulated reality—but why?
What with recent and rapid progress in photorealistic, 3D simulations (think of video games like the Sims or Arma 3), Musk maintains that the ability for humans to realistically simulate reality is not so far off. Assuming that everything in the physical worldcanbe simulated, Musk posits that humans might just decide to simulate themselves, once they realize the immutable limits of human, scientific progress.
In the end, as this video fromVoxexplains, there are three possibilities of human existence for Elon Musk: one, humans go extinct before they develop this technology; two, humans choose not to run simulations because it is unethical or uninteresting; or three, that we arealreadyliving in simulation. Supposing that simulated realities might self-replicate, producing their own sets of simulated realities, our world could be one in infinity.
Interestingly enough, this hypothesis seems to invoke a concept common in religion—the idea that the existence of reality can be explained by some ultimate Creator. But debates over whether a Creator (namely, a God) exists or not are still hotly debated. So unless the creator(s) of our simulated reality came forth to finally reveal the "truth," how does Elon Musk imagine us finally being able to affirm that wehavebeen living in a simulation?
Watch this video above from Vox and read Nick Bostrom's paper, titled"Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?"And consider: does the nature of free will or our responsibility to other individuals change if we are?
近几十年来,计算机技术的快速发展产生了大量的智能机器,它们在速度和容量上远远超过人类的思维。
If the precise value of many physical constants had been different, the universe would not have supported life, human life, consciousness, philosophy and us.
The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. What are the proofs of the existence of God?
越来越多的心理学家和哲学家相信,要理解心灵是如何真正运作的,我们必须把它理解为既嵌入于身体中,又位于环境中。
人类是有意识的,台球不是,电脑也不是。但这三个都是分子的集合,不是吗?
我们喜欢认为自己享有不受限制的自由意志。但是现代科学越来越多地告诉我们……
Some futurists believe we are not far from a time when technology and medicine will be so advanced that humans need no longer die of old age or other natural causes.
近几十年来,计算机技术的快速发展产生了大量的智能机器,它们在速度和容量上远远超过人类的思维。
If the precise value of many physical constants had been different, the universe would not have supported life, human life, consciousness, philosophy and us.
The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. What are the proofs of the existence of God?
越来越多的心理学家和哲学家相信,要理解心灵是如何真正运作的,我们必须把它理解为既嵌入于身体中,又位于环境中。
人类是有意识的,台球不是,电脑也不是。但这三个都是分子的集合,不是吗?
我们喜欢认为自己享有不受限制的自由意志。但是现代科学越来越多地告诉我们……
Some futurists believe we are not far from a time when technology and medicine will be so advanced that humans need no longer die of old age or other natural causes.
Comments(1)
Harold G. Neuman
Friday, September 1, 2017 -- 11:27 AM
This notion has been visitedThis notion has been visited and re-visited numerous times---many of those times within my lifetime. It further appears that we are becoming obsessed with our own self-absorbed EXISTENZ that we are prone to worry about the incomprehensible. For the sake of thinking experimentation, let us suppose that we ARE living in a computer simulation. That reality could easily translate to generations before us and those yet unborn. So: "computer simulation" is all that mankind is, was, and ever could be...ergo, free will and responsibility to other individuals is as illusory as it gets and, even more disappointing, we need not concern ourselves with those things over which we have no control. Hume's Fork captures this succinctly, and may have been the most profound thing he ever said. It also suggests (albeit inconclusively) that we are, ultimately, robots. Oh well. If any of this is meaningful, someone will find a way to extract that meaning. I suppose.