simulation hypothesis
E708977
The simulation hypothesis is the philosophical and scientific idea that our reality might be an artificial simulation, such as a computer-generated virtual world created by an advanced civilization.
Statements (62)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
metaphysical hypothesis
ⓘ
philosophical hypothesis ⓘ scientific speculation ⓘ thought experiment ⓘ |
| BostromTrilemmaPremise |
almost all civilizations at our level of development go extinct before becoming posthuman
ⓘ
almost no posthuman civilizations run significant numbers of ancestor simulations ⓘ we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation ⓘ |
| BostromTrilemmaType | trilemma ⓘ |
| coreIdea |
an advanced civilization might be running the simulation
ⓘ
our universe could be a computer-generated virtual world ⓘ reality might be an artificial simulation ⓘ |
| debateTopic |
detectability of simulation glitches or constraints
ⓘ
ethical status of simulated beings ⓘ implications for free will ⓘ implications for theism and creation ⓘ probability that we live in a simulation ⓘ |
| epistemicImplication |
challenges assumptions about empirical evidence
ⓘ
questions possibility of knowing whether reality is base or simulated ⓘ |
| field |
computer science
ⓘ
cosmology ⓘ metaphysics ⓘ philosophy of mind ⓘ philosophy of science ⓘ simulation theory ⓘ theoretical physics ⓘ |
| hasVariant |
cosmological simulation hypothesis
ⓘ
local simulation hypothesis ⓘ nested simulations hypothesis ⓘ partial simulation hypothesis ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Descartes evil demon hypothesis
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
advances in computer simulation technology ⓘ brain in a vat thought experiment ⓘ video game realism ⓘ |
| methodologicalStatus |
difficult to test experimentally
ⓘ
not empirically confirmed ⓘ |
| notableCritic |
David Deutsch
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Max Tegmark NERFINISHED ⓘ Sean Carroll NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableProponent |
David Chalmers
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Elon Musk NERFINISHED ⓘ Nick Bostrom NERFINISHED ⓘ Rizwan Virk NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableWork | Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableWorkAuthor | Nick Bostrom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableWorkYear | 2003 ⓘ |
| ontologicalImplication | suggests physical reality may be informational or computational at base ⓘ |
| popularizedBy |
The Matrix
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
science fiction literature ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
Boltzmann brain
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Matrix hypothesis ⓘ anthropic principle ⓘ artificial general intelligence ⓘ brain in a vat ⓘ computationalism ⓘ digital physics ⓘ multiverse ⓘ posthuman civilization ⓘ virtual reality ⓘ |
| statusInPhilosophy | widely discussed but controversial ⓘ |
| statusInScience | speculative and not part of standard models in physics ⓘ |
| testabilityProposal | look for lattice-like structure in spacetime at high energies ⓘ |
| testabilityProposal | search for computational limits in physical constants ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.