Introducing Nick Bostrom.
About five years ago I came across a paper written and presented by Nick Bostrom. He is a member of the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University. The paper is titled : “Are you living in a computer simulation?” It was first published in Philosophical Quarterly (2003) Vol. 53, No. 221 pp. 243-255.
Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher and was 28 years of age when he revolutionized the world with his studies of the philosophy of artificial intelligence and bioethics. Since then he has published approximately 200 papers.
Personally, I have become fascinated with the concept that we, human beings, may indeed be extinct and what we experience as life and living is an ancestor-simulation created and maintained by post-humans, inside computers.
Mr. Bostrom presents his ideas in a style that is easy to comprehend, if you pay attention. The science presented is understandable. Some concepts need clarification in order to grasp the exact meaning of what he is writing. I made a list of these concepts and explanations and I will include them as they become mentioned in the paper.
The reason I’ve taken up this task in such detail is because I want to get to the truth of this matter or at the least have some more conclusive thoughts on this subject. I need to understand the content and reach my own conclusions. In order to do so the subject must he comprehended intimately. This goal can only be attained by studying it and really giving it some brain power.
Please join me in discovering any truth that we can. Break rank. Some people just don’t want to know. Other’s don’t care. Other’s dismiss anything outside of the box. Personally, the events unfolding before my very eyes and the words of credible scientists stating that we have less than 10 years of human existence left on this planet, give me reason to think that we may already be extinct and living in a computer simulation. This is not so far fetched. Frightening? Yes! Impossible? No!
Another questions that needs answers is, if we are indeed existing in a ancestor -simulation created and kept running by a “Director”, what would be the reason, the motivation for engaging in such a cruel endeavor.
Nick Bostrom:
Abstract
” Are we living in a computer simulation?”
This ABSTRACT presents the following:
(1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a ” post-human” state;
(2) any post-human civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history ( or variations thereof);
(3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become post-humans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of consequences of this result are also discussed.
End of Part One: this subject promises to produce, at least ten parts. Please feel free to ask and comment. The following part to this series will all be posted under the “Brainick” category even though this subject is funky wonky, and contains, for sure, awesome stuff.
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