[matthewwiese]

If I grokked the parent right, it's not that we are living in a simulation, but that the apex of development for a species is effectively becoming a simulation.

Now, whether that is an argument that life at present is itself a simulation is yet to be determined. However, I'd imagine given that ungodly level of computational power we'd have the wherewithal to construct a reality for ourselves far more compelling than this one. ;)

[Joe-Z]

Wouldn't it be more fitting to call it a godly amount of computational power then? :)

We're only looking at it from the inside perspective. Who knows, maybe our simulation overlords (ourselves?) already placed us in a far better place than they ever had!

[matthewwiese]

Haha. Well said.

That's a clever take. I suppose if the "original" humans came from a universe as hellish as Warhammer 40K, ours would seem like a cakewalk!

[jnicholasp]

We're obviously not living in a best-of-all-possible-worlds simulation, but that doesn't preclude us either from being in a simulation or from being in one created by thoughtful entities for morally good ends.

If you consider that bringing into being all possible worlds and all possible creatures whose existence is net positive in utility to themselves, is a good and desirable and interesting project, then you would end by creating an untold number of simulations, many of which would not be the, or mistakeable for the, best of all possible worlds.

And it would be possible that many creatures who grew up in and formed a unique, not otherwise achievable, identity in the not-perfect worlds could graduate/ascend/sublime into one or more of the more perfect worlds after they had lived a life in their home simulation.

And being such a creature in such a home simulation, not yet ascended or aware that there are other places to ascend to, could also be a solution to the Fermi paradox: we see no other aliens because we have been placed here at least in part to develop our specifically human nature, without the dilution of that nature via the influence of other creatures. Cf. the Star Trek policy of non-intervention, the Prime Directive [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Directive].