[simonh]

If you have a way to find discrepancies between a simulation and reality, why do you need the simulation anymore?

I don't buy it. Even simulating just the earth and its environs would probably require a computer as big as a galaxy worth of matter. There's just no conceivable payback that could ever be worth the costs.

[AnonNo15]

You have to actually compute the simulated state and compare it to known bits of the past state to get the results.

Yes, simulating Earth to sufficient precision might require resources of the Type III civilization. However, if something can be done, why shouldn't it be done?

The payback is twofold, actually:

First, you can get provide the meaningful afterlife to your ancestors.

Secondly, once you have hardware and software to simulate a virtual universe, you can create a multitude of them, with different properties and qualities. Think of the same logic behind splitting the physical computer into virtual machines.

[simonh]

I think a Type III civilization will have better things to do that precisely simulating me taking a crap every day. To me this argument smells the same as simplistic suggested solutions to real world problems. 'Why don't we just do X', such as why not just take all the excess food in the world and feed it to the starving people in Africa? Wow, how simple. Why did nobody think of that. Why wouldn't people in the future just simulate all of reality thousands of times? But easy to say or imagine != easy to do. I have severe doubts if even a Type II civilization can ever be viable.