[tsimionescu]

The assumption is that there is a set of laws of physics which are consistent with our observations, that are the same across space, that do not vary with time, and that all phenomena in the universe are ultimately caused by these laws.

Whether these are the laws of nature, the laws of a simulation, or the laws of some Gods playing around, it makes no difference.

Unfortunately, without these assumptions it is impossible to have any kind of scientific knowledge - if we can't assume that the sun rising for the last hundred thousand years means it will rise again tomorrow, or if we don't assume that the universe extends in the past as well as the future, there is nothing meaningful to study.

Note: the laws of physics I am talking about above could be very different from what we know today - just as QM and Relativity are to Newtonian physics - but that would not change the assumptions I'm talking about.

[solotronics]

Even if my half baked thought experiment was true I agree in that it shouldn't make any difference in our goals or ideals. I was merely positing a possibility for why if statistically our spacetime could be packed with neighbors we haven't noticed anybody. Another reason could be there are visitors they just exist on dimensions perpendicular to the 3d space we perceive, maybe even our concept of spatial dimensions is a oversimplification or a small slice of a full spectrum.