Adolescent Perspectives
The new attack on truth started with a denial of reality. A 2003 paper written by Nick Bostrom questions our existence. Within this paper, the University of Oxford philosopher emphasizes on some hard-to-reach contentions: If there are long-lived technological civilizations in the world, and if they run computer simulations, there must be a massive number of virtual realities, complete with artificial-intelligence inhabitants who might have no idea they’re living inside a game — maybe inhabitants like us.
An ambitious highschool teenager lay in her bed, lathered with several blankets and a hefty comforter to keep her warm throughout the frigid night. The reflection of the moon shone through her window; her inquisitive eyes gazing at the immeasurable sky. Twinkles of the stars shone on her blank face, causing this oblivious girl to have a boundless sense of imagination.
What causes stars to twinkle?
A big piece of black cloth wrapped around what we know as the world. Thus, creating a perceivable dark illusion- something so simple, being so unregistered in our brains. Holes plunged into the cloth, creating an accessible view of the bright, fluorescent white-lighted labratory that is brainwashed into being “the great unknown”. Figures of scientists in lab coats moving around, creating the seemingly like “twinkle”.
Moving inward, rather than outward, is another way to search for simulation flaws. Thomas Campbell, a former NASA engineer, and his colleagues argue that human video game designers normally optimize the efficiency of their programming by creating only the sections of the virtual environment that players will see in a recently proposed test. If our Matrix overlords are similarly focused on performance, they may be careful about simulating information while we’re watching a case, but allow a more loose simulation style when they think no one is watching.
