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We may be living in a simulation

For a long time I have been suspecting that there is something false about life. I  remember watching the movie The Truman Show as a kid and for a a little while I thought my life was a show, that I was being observed and monitored somehow, that goes beyond my ability to detect. Since learning about simulation theory, it has slowly crept into my philosophical views of life, shifting my epistemology, ontology, and has even my axiology. This has led me to some mixed thoughts that seem to contradict each other: 

  1. The nature of reality doesn't matter. Simulation or now we may all be cogs in a wheel with little to no free will, as human behavior is dictated by evolutionary biology, genetics, the expression of those genetics, environment, nurture, social forces, and other factors that lead to our actions. Our ideas of what reality is or isn't has no effect on the reality we are limited to perceive. 

  2. A simulation would make theology true and atheism false, since the creators of our simulation, by definition, would be our God (or Gods). This is in line with ideas of the afterlife, when death is how we leave the earth, the "fake reality" that impacts our after life to then connect with our deities, or "true reality". I admit it is easier to accept simulation theory since I grew up Christian (which I no longer consider myself). The similarities between waking up from a simulation with dying and having an afterlife are clear to me, and logically congruent ideas.

  3. Then there is the question of what is real and whether we are all in a simulation together, kind of like the matrix, everyone is plugged in. Or am I the only "real" entity in the simulation, whatever "real" means of course since I would not be technically, which is in line with Descartes "I think therefore I am." 

  4. Simulation theory has also led me to see death as the necessary escape to life. Life is suffering and only by ending life can someone reach true peace which in my opinion is returning to nothingness, as we were before birth. Believing in a simulation makes the concept of death easier to manage


I cannot say for certain whether we live in a simulation or not. I also have no quarrel with religion or with people who believe dogmatic ideologies. This post just summarizes a bit of where I am today, but my journey for discovering my own truth is far from over. It wont end until my simulation comes to an end (hehe!)! Until then, I hope to meet many more cool people to discuss these ideas with, since we all should contribute to the social construction of our civilization's knowledge.

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