{"id":63786,"date":"2022-12-06T06:00:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=63786"},"modified":"2022-11-29T16:31:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T21:31:32","slug":"an-alien-programmer-or-a-creator-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2022\/12\/an-alien-programmer-or-a-creator-god\/","title":{"rendered":"An Alien Programmer? Or a Creator God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another thing many of our tech lords believe:\u00a0 The universe and we ourselves are actually computer simulations.<\/p>\n

As physicist Melvin Vopson<\/a> notes, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom, who is also one of the fathers of longtermism, formulated the simulation hypothesis<\/a>, which he concludes is \u201chighly probable.\u201d MIT physicist Seth Lloyd has suggested that the universe itself\u00a0\u00a0could be a giant quantum computer<\/a>.\u00a0 And Elon Musk is on record as saying, \u201cWe\u2019re most likely in a simulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Not only that, some of the longtermists, whom we blogged about last time, believe that in the technological eutopia to come, we ourselves will not only create new universes, we will create new digital inhabitants, complete with consciousness, to inhabit them.<\/p>\n

\u00c9mile Torres<\/a> quotes Bostrom again, who says that our descendents will program trillions and trillions of digital people, who will \u201clive rich and happy lives while interacting with one another in virtual environments.\u201d\u00a0 He calculates that in the future there will be 1058<\/sup> (1 followed by 58 zeroes) digital people.\u00a0 Longtermists, like other utilitarians, do such calculations to show that these are the ones who will constitute \u201cthe greatest number\u201d whom we should do the \u201cgreatest good for.\u201d\u00a0 In their moral calculation, be 1058<\/sup> conscious beings have far more value than the mere 8 billion (8.0 \u00d7 109<\/sup>) who are alive today. So we should make it possible for them to exist<\/em> (thus, the enthusiasm for the initial technology of the metaverse) and do what would benefit them<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So this notion that the universe, along with all of us conscious entities who inhabit it,\u00a0 is just a computer-generated simulation, as in the Matrix<\/em> movie, is being taken quite seriously.<\/p>\n

The online site StudyFinds<\/a>, which highlights interesting research in a number of fields, has published a piece by University of Portsmouth physicist Melvin M. Vopson entitled\u00a0Is our universe one big virtual reality? How to test if we\u2019re really living in a computer simulation<\/a>\u00a0(reprinted from The Conversation<\/a>).\u00a0 He tries to figure out how we might test the simulation hypothesis and concludes that there may be evidence for it.<\/p>\n

He notes how scientists are puzzled about the \u201canthropic principle<\/a>\u201d (my term, not his), the fact that the laws and makeup of nature seem finely tuned to allow for the existence of human life and that the slightest variation of conditions at the beginning of the universe would make life impossible.\u00a0 \u201cA common answer is that we live in an infinite multiverse of universes, so we shouldn\u2019t be surprised that at least one universe has turned out as ours,\u201d he says, raising one absurdity held by many scientists. \u201cBut another is that our universe is a computer simulation, with someone (perhaps an advanced alien species) fine-tuning the conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then says, \u201cThere is some evidence suggesting that our physical reality could be a simulated virtual reality rather than an objective world that exists independently of the observer.\u201d\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n

Any virtual reality world will be based on information processing. That means everything is ultimately digitised or pixelated down to a minimum size that cannot be subdivided further: bits. This appears to mimic our reality according to the theory of quantum mechanics, which rules the world of atoms and particles. . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The laws of physics that govern everything in the universe also resemble computer code lines that a simulation would follow in the execution of the program. Moreover, mathematical equations, numbers and geometric patterns\u00a0are present everywhere \u2013 the world appears to be entirely mathematical.<\/p>\n

Another curiosity in physics supporting the simulation hypothesis is the maximum speed limit in our universe, which is the speed of light. In a virtual reality, this limit would correspond to the speed limit of the processor, or the processing power limit. . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps the most supportive evidence of the simulation hypothesis comes from quantum mechanics. This suggest nature isn\u2019t \u201creal\u201d: particles in determined states, such as specific locations,\u00a0don\u2019t seem to exist\u00a0unless you actually observe or measure them. Instead, they are in a mix of different states simultaneously. Similarly, virtual reality needs an observer or programmer for things to happen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Are you picking up on the irony?\u00a0 The centrality of information<\/em> in the structures of the universe?\u00a0 The fact that mathematics, a mental construct, somehow applies exactly to the external world?\u00a0 The necessity of an observer?<\/p>\n

These facts point to the universe as a creation of God:\u00a0 <\/em>the ultimate Observer who providentially keeps everything in existence; the Mind that is expressed everywhere; who created by means of His Word, the Logos<\/em>, which is the information that structures the entire universe.<\/p>\n

These are, fact, the arguments for Intelligent Design, which is strictly taboo in the scientific establishment.\u00a0 Invoking God in cosmology is strictly forbidden, and a scientist might be fired and lose his career for so much as mentioning the possibility.\u00a0 But belief in an Alien computer programmer as the originator of our universe is considered an interesting hypothesis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image by Vectorportal.com<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another thing many of our tech lords believe:\u00a0 The universe and we ourselves are actually computer simulations. This “simulation hypothesis” is being taken seriously by some physicists. Ironically, the evidence they cite is the evidence for Intelligent Design, which is taboo in the science establishment. 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