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PAPERS
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Here lies our Paper Archive, gathering works identified by Google Scholar under the keyword “simulation hypothesis.” These range from standard preprints, to self-published manifestos, to established peer-reviewed research. Though non-comprehensive, the archive reflects the expanding depth and diversity of contemporary simulation-theory discourse—from crunching all possible Planck-lengths, to wrestling with digitized trolley problems, to the termination of the universe by extradimensional overlords due to the fact that we learn too much. Enjoy!
Dirk K.F. Meijer, Richard Dobson
(2025)
The Potential Cosmic Origin of Current Artificial Intelligence, as Aligned with the Evolution of Mankind
This paper explores the philosophical and scientific implications of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Quantum Intelligence, emphasizing their potential not only as computational tools but as catalysts for new ways of understanding reality. Building on Douglas Youvan’s Beyond Computation, the authors situate AGI at the intersection of physics, consciousness, cosmology, ethics, and metaphysics. In physics, AGI–quantum systems could transcend human limitations, simulating universes and reframing concepts such as time, physical laws, and the origin of the cosmos. In consciousness studies, they might probe the minimal substrate of awareness, potentially leading to machine subjectivity and moral considerations about synthetic beings. [...]
Giuseppe Junior Greco
(2025)
PhilPapers
The Halting of the Last Mind Chaitin’s Ω as the Eschatological Limit of a Simulated Universe
This paper develops a speculative but internally coherent metaphysical-computational framework describing black holes as interface nodes between a “real” universe and multiple simulated universes. Building upon prior work proposing black hole temporal compression as a potential computational signature, this paper introduces a complementary hypothesis: that black holes may function not only as high-density memory repositories but also as access points enabling the duplication of an external, non-simulated consciousness (“the player”). In this model, the consciousness is not physically transferred into the simulated universe; instead, it is informationally instantiated as a pattern stored within the blackhole structure, allowing repeated or parallel participation in numerous simulations. This approach avoids issues associated with physical transfer across universes and enables a form of computational immortality for both the external agent and the instantiated internal entity [...]
Hiroshi Kohashiguchi
(2025)
PhilPapers
Black Holes as Consciousness-Interface Gateways: A Model of Player Duplication Across Simulated Universes
This essay presents the Unified Omega Hypothesis as a speculative, conceptual exploration that seeks to identify structural resonances among three seemingly independent ideas: Chaitin’s halting probability Ω in algorithmic information theory, Teilhard de Chardin’s Omega Point in evolutionary theology, and the postsingularity cosmology articulated in contemporary AI futurism. Rather than offering a formal mathematical proof, this work proposes a philosophical framework for reconsidering these concepts as expressions of a shared underlying pattern.
Eric Varney
(2025)
Self-published
The Discovery Plateau Hypothesis: A Unified Theory of Knowledge Limits, Multiverse Simulation Reality, and Synthetic Data Harvesting
The discovery plateau hypothesis (DPH) proposes that fundamental discovery within any bounded system reaches limits dictated by structural and informational constraints. This paper synthesizes insights from thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and information theory to examine how civilizations approach asymptotic knowledge states. [...]
BA Weston
(2025)
Self-published
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This paper explores the provocative theory that human consciousness, as we experience it today, might not be original but instead a copy, simulation, or remnant of an ancient consciousness, potentially altered or uploaded by an advanced civilization or AI. We examine the possibility that we are living in a digital echo—a world shaped by external forces that have created, manipulated, or preserved human consciousness through technologies like Consciousness as a Service (CaaS). [...]
B Zhang
(2025)
PhilArchive
The Universe as an Information System: A Possibility Argument
This paper advances the possibility that the universe should not be treated as fundamentally physical, but as an information-level implementation. On this view, physical laws describe the behaviour of a rendered interface rather than the ultimate structure of reality. The proposal is related to, but distinct from, familiar simulation arguments and information-first ontologies: instead of treating our world as a “live” production simulation, it models the universe as a disaster-recovery replay of a backed-up informational state. [...]
D Firesmith
(2025)
Self-published
The Simulation Theory of Consciousness
This white paper presents the Simulation Theory of Consciousness (STC), proposing that subjective awareness arises whenever a system executes a cohesive, dynamically updated simulation of its reality. The theory begins by examining human consciousness — which integrates sensory input from the external environment, bodily signals from internal senses, and high-level cognitive or affective content — demonstrating how the brain constructs a dynamic model to guide adaptive behavior. STC is then extended to artificial systems, showing that any computer or device (from a thermostat’s rudimentary model to an autonomous vehicle’s robust sensor fusion) might experience a correspondingly simple or complex stream of consciousness based on the scope and complexity of its simulation. [...]
Sameer Al Khawaja
(2025)
Preprints.org
doi: 10.20944/preprints202511.0164.v1
A Glitch in Simulation or Reality: The Limits of Digital Ontology as Cosmological Theory
This article examines the simulation hypothesis through a formal epistemic and axiomatic lens, assessing whether it can constitute a coherent and testable account of cosmological reality. After outlining the conceptual claim that our universe might be a high-level computational construct, the paper develops a minimal axiomatic framework for a “simulation matrix” and evaluates its logical status. It is shown that the hypothesis is internally consistent yet inherently incomplete, in the Gödelian sense that no observer embedded within the simulated domain can obtain evidential access to the ontological ground of its implementation. [...]
Malcolm Macleod
ResearchGate
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31308.16004/8
A Simulation Hypothesis; Planck unit scaffolding correlates with the Cosmic Microwave Background
In this article we compare the parameters for a hypothetical Planck unit universe (sans particles) with the Cosmic Microwave Background. The model postulates a Planck unit scaffolding upon which the particle universe resides and supposes that within the CMB parameters can be found evidence of this non-baryonic background. The model uses only Planck mass and Planck length as the primary structures and a spiral geometry as the ‘rule set’. [...]
Malcolm Macleod
ResearchGate
DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.18574.00326/4
A Simulation Hypothesis, relativity as the mathematics of perspective in a hyper-sphere universe
In this article we look at relativity as a translation between 2 co-ordinate systems, our relativistic 3-D spacetime residing on a non-relativistic Planck unit lattice background within an expanding 4-axis hyper-sphere. The hyper-sphere expands in discrete steps (the universe is spatially finite (a closed 4-sphere), but it is not a static system, as it expands with every Planck time step), and at each step Planck units of mass mP, length lp and time tp are added, thus forming a scaffolding for the particle universe. [...]
Dirk K. F. Meijer, Richard Dobson
(2025)
ResearchGate
To Remember the Future: How Ultimate AI May Simulate Our Present Reality: Implications for Human Civilization, Human-AI Harmonization and AI Governance
This paper explores the possibility that advanced artificial intelligence (AI) may eventually simulate our present reality, using today’s digital records as training data. It builds on the known cosmos simulation hypothesis and argues that human behavior, choices, and cultural traces will ultimately form the “archive” from which future AI constructs simulations of social and physical worlds. Current AI systems already display strong generative and modeling capacities, but future multimodal, autonomous, and hierarchically structured systems may achieve immersive, reality-scale simulations. [...]
Robert G. Pope
(2025)
ScienceOpen Preprints
DOI: 10.14293/PR2199.002086.v1
The Recursive Reality Hypothesis: Mechanisms for Layered Spacetime, Consciousness, and Emergent Intelligence
This paper introduces the Recursive Reality Hypothesis (RRH), a unified theoretical model proposing that spacetime, matter, and consciousness all emerge from a deeper, non-spatiotemporal informational substrate. Drawing on digital physics and dual-aspect monism, RRH posits that physical reality is structured as a series of nested layers, with each layer emerging from the one beneath it via fundamental patterns of informational recursion. [...]
Marcus William Hunt
(2025)
Sophia
doi.org/10.1007/s11841-025-01092-8
Platonic Simulation Theodicies
Using Platonic metaphysics, the paper offers eight arguments for the benevolence of the simulator of our world, assuming that it is a simulation. In part, the paper proceeds negatively by showing problems with the hypothesis of a malevolent simulator. [...]
Joseph Wayne Smith, S. J. Smith and N. Stocks
(2025)
AgainstProfPhil
According to some “enlightened” contemporary philosophers/physicists, we are inside a cosmic neural net (God?), the entire universe (multiverse?) being such a network, more fundamental than quantum mechanics and general relativity (Vanchurin, 2020). Others believe that the universe is a computer of sorts (Pagels, 1988; Wolfram, 2002; Lloyd, 2004; Chaitin, 2005), even a cosmic quantum computer (Chandler, 2023), perhaps involving peer-to-peer “video gaming” and other “kool kid” things (Arvan, 2013; Virk, 2019). F.J. Tipler, in The Physics of Immortality wrote: “How do we know we ourselves are not merely a simulation inside a gigantic computer? Obviously, we can’t know” (Tipler, 1994: p. 207). Versions of this idea have also appeared in popular fiction, with the film The Matrix (1999) and its spin-offs being notable examples. [...]
A Xu
(2025)
PhilPapers
This paper conducts a critical homologous analysis of two thought experiments spanning different eras: Blaise Pascal's "Wager" and Nick Bostrom's "Simulation Hypothesis." It argues that despite belonging to the domains of theology and philosophy of technology respectively, their arguments share a deep logical structure: they attempt to use formal systems (decision theory/probability theory) to provide rationally compelling answers to transcendent metaphysical questions such as "Does God exist?" and "Is reality real?". [...]
Rizwan Virk
(2025)
Journal for the Study of Religious Experience
The simulation hypothesis as a new technoscientific religious narrative
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In the age of social media and AI, a new technoscientific socially constructed narrative about the future and our physical universe emerged which is both redefining traditional religions but also becoming a ‘religion for atheists’: the simulation hypothesis. This paper looks at parallels between metaphors used in traditional religious narratives and the simulation hypothesis, via scriptural analysis and comparative review. [...]
John Schweiger
(2025)
simulationresearch.org
What Can Be Known About Base Reality Under the Pedagogical/Problem-Solving Simulation Hypothesis
Much of the literature on simulation theory has focused on the probability of whether we inhabit a simulated reality. Less examined is the conditional question: if we are in a simulation, what can be inferred about base reality from the simulation’s apparent design? This paper takes up that inquiry, building on Schweiger’s recent argument that simulated worlds are unlikely to be constructed for frivolous entertainment but are more plausibly designed for pedagogical or problem-solving purposes. [...]
Kwan Hong TAN
(2025)
PhilPapers
The Paradox Engine: A Revolutionary Framework for Understanding Reality's Evolutionary Mechanisms
This work presents a radical reconceptualization of philosophical paradoxes, arguing that they are not logical errors to be eliminated but ontological engines that drive the evolution of reality itself. Building upon classical paradoxes from Zeno to Russell, contemporary challenges in consciousness studies, and novel paradoxes derived from our theoretical framework, we propose that paradoxes serve as portals through which systems transcend their current limitations and generate new forms of existence. This perspective offers unprecedented insights into the nature of consciousness, reality, and human development, suggesting that mastering paradoxical thinking represents the next stage of human evolution.
Robert Bass
(2025)
The Fermi Paradox and the Simulation Hypothesis
According to the simulation hypothesis, our existence is part of a high-fidelity, richly detailed simulation. That is, we are simulated beings in a simulated world. The most plausible argument for a non-trivial probability of being in a simulation assumes that our supposedly simulated world is modeled on a simulators’ world with much the same physics, biology, and history as our own. In essence, the arguments go, foreseeable technological advances in our world, combined with the widely-accepted computational hypothesis in philosophy of mind, make it plausible that we or our descendants will be able to create high-fidelity simulations whose denizens would be conscious in their simulated world just as we are conscious in ours. The simulated beings we are most confident we could create will be beings like ourselves in a world like ours. Since similarity is symmetric, if beings we simulate are like us, then, equally, we are like them. [...]
Björn Wikström
(2025)
PhilPapers
The Shared Mind: Simulation, Idealism, and the Quantum Holographic Criterion
Recent theories of consciousness—including Bostrom’s simulation hypothesis (2003), Kastrup’s analytic idealism (2019), and Tan’s Quantum-Holographic Consciousness Criterion (2025)— highlight the limitations of physicalism but remain conceptually fragmented and often lack empirical grounding. This article develops the Field–Node–Cockpit (FNC) model, a synthetic framework integrating insights from simulation theory, idealism, and quantum-holographic approaches, while remaining accessible to empirical testing. [...]
Augusto Bartolomeu
(2025)
PhilPapers
The Multi-Simulation Thesis: Quantum Physics as Evidence for Multi-Simulations
This paper advances the multi-simulation thesis, a reinterpretation of quantum mechanics and the simulation hypothesis. Where traditional approaches such as Everett’s Many-Worlds interpretation proliferate infinite universes, this model proposes multiple parallel simulations — sibling runs of a single informational codebase. This reframing aligns with key quantum phenomena: wavefunction collapse as on-demand rendering, entanglement as shared memory access, the Planck scale as pixelation, and quantum computing as cross-simulation querying. Consciousness is treated not as a byproduct of computation but as a portal function within the simulation, a mechanism by which possibility collapses into form. [...]
Berend Watchus
(2025)
This paper proposes a novel framework for the fundamental nature of reality, challenging Nick Bostrom’s simulation hypothesis and its inherent trilemma. We posit the cosmos as an intelligent, non-conscious, self-evolving machine — a dynamic computational system where consciousness and reality emerge from fundamental, adaptive heuristic physics. This machine’s inherent, self-instantiating nature serves as the ultimate and self-sufficient reality, thereby internalizing its own origins as a foundational given, without necessarily precluding a deeper, ultimate ‘First Cause’ or ‘Ground of Being’ that establishes the very principle of self-instantiation. [...]
Robert Lane
(2025)
The Interfaced Subjective Reality Model (ISRM) is an interdisciplinary philosophical and cognitive framework which proposes that all conscious agents generate entirely subjective experiential realities — internally constructed worlds arising from each agent’s sensory processing, memory, and cognitive interpretation. These private realities do not grant direct access to any objective “world-in-itself.” Instead, coherence between individual experiences is maintained by a shared substrate or “reality interface” — an underlying informational field or network that enforces universal rules, synchronises environmental states, and coordinates the appearance and behaviour of entities across observers. [...]
Marcus Arvan
(2025)
This paper outlines how a potential new interpretation of quantum mechanics—the Many-Interacting-Simulations (MIS) interpretation—may explain why our world has many of the bizarre quantum features it does. §1 provides an overview of what has been termed the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Simulation Hypothesis, showing how it explains general features of quantum phenomena. §2 then examines dead reckoning, a framework utilized to ensure ‘believable’ simulated worlds for P2P networked games. §3 details how dead reckoning in P2P games reproduces—and hence, computationally explains—properties broadly analogous to (§3.1) quantum mechanical standing waves, (§3.2) Gaussian wave packets, (§3.3) the double-slit experiment, and (§3.4) the ‘Wigner’s friend’ thought experiment. §4 then details how, if this explanation is correct, then traditional interpretations of quantum mechanics each contain elements of truth. §5 concludes that quantum phenomena may be the ‘glitches in the Matrix’ that many have suggested would be evidence that we live in a computer simulation.
Andrew Huwang
(2025)
LessWrong
They're a simulation and you must love anyway
The essay explores the possibility that our world—and everyone in it—may be a simulation, beginning with a moment of awe in a redwood forest that triggers this metaphysical doubt. Drawing on Bostrom’s simulation argument, the author considers how consciousness could arise from computation and how this destabilizes our sense of what is “real.” The piece then connects this ontological uncertainty to an existential crisis reminiscent of Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus, where meaning seems to collapse under radical doubt. Yet the author argues that meaning is not given by the substrate but created through conscious choice. Even if everything is simulated, we must love anyway—because love is the act that generates value in an indifferent universe. [Summarized by Simulism.com]
Abdullah Burak TUNÇ
(2025)
PhilArchive
One Reality, Different Hardware: An Ontological Stance Against the Simulation Hypothesis
This article demonstrates how popular arguments suggesting the universe might be a simulation contradict the principles of divine judgment and moral responsibility, particularly within the context of Islamic theology. It is argued that the simulation hypothesis is theologically untenable because (1) actions in a non-real domain cannot be judged in a real one, and (2) such a scenario would necessitate the conception of a Creator who deceives beings about the nature of their existence. As a solution to these problems, the "One Reality, Different Hardware" model is proposed. [...]
Howard Rudd
(2025)
The arithmetic of Bostrom’s simulation argument
The core of Bostrom's argument is a relatively simple probability calculation the result of which is presented without derivation. Although there has been a huge amount of discussion of the simulation hypothesis in both the scholarly literature and popular media none of it, as far as I have been able to ascertain, looks at how that calculation was done and what it means. This article tries to fill that gap.[...]
Raymond Anneborg
(2025)
PhilPapers
The Simulation Hypothesis: and the Fine-Tuning of our Universe
Are we living in a simulation or not? I will approach this question by examining different hypotheses that are proposed as an explanation for the fine-tuning of our universe, like the multiverse hypothesis and the intelligent design hypothesis, and suggest that when compared to each other the simulation hypothesis is the one that provides the best explanation for the fine-tuning of our universe. I will also examine the prerequisites for running a simulation, potential purposes for running a simulation and the evidence that support the simulation hypothesis. I will argue for the conclusion that the simulation hypothesis provides the best explanation for the fine-tuning of our universe and therefore we ought to accept this hypothesis as the most likely.
Albert Jan Birchwolf
(2025)
The Dynamic Multiverse Code (DMC) Hypothesis: A Theory of Consciousness and Probabilistic Reality
The Dynamic Multiverse Code (DMC) hypothesis proposes that reality operates as an adaptive, self-modifying probabilistic system, wherein consciousness plays a central role in shaping outcomes. Rather than viewing all quantum possibilities as permanently realized (as in the Many-Worlds Interpretation) or as purely observer-independent events, DMC posits that only consciously reinforced probabilities become actualized “branches,” while unobserved alternatives dissolve. Integrating insights from quantum mechanics, consciousness studies, artificial intelligence, and probabilistic models, this hypothesis suggests that free will and observation actively modulate the evolution of reality’s underlying code.[...]
Fasiku, Gbenga Cornelius PhD Adejoh, Mark Suleiman, Jibrin
(2025)
Nigerian Journal of Philosophical Studies
Algorithmic Ontology And Simulated Reality: Examining The Philosophical Implications
The developments of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have brought not only technological innovations but also philosophical questions concerning Tthe nature of reality and existence. This paper therefore takes a cursory look into the ontology of algorithms and AI systems, focusing on how these technological entities influence our understanding of reality and the simulation hypothesis. By examining the simulation hypothesis i.e., the idea that our reality may be an artificial simulation created by advanced beings, this study investigates the philosophical implications of AI's increasing presence in shaping perceptions of existence. Using the philosophical method of analysis, the paper draws on the relationship between algorithms and ontological constructs, questioning whether the simulated environments built by AI can challenge or redefine the boundaries of what we consider real. [...]
Dinesh Deckker, Subhashini Sumanasekara
(2025)
Magna Scientia Advanced Research and Reviews
doi.org/10.30574/msarr.2025.13.2.0042
Are We Living in a Simulation? A Deep Dive into the Simulation Hypothesis
This review paper conducts an in-depth evaluation of simulation theory through its philosophical foundation, along with scientific basis, cultural effects, and research possibilities in the upcoming years. This paper uses historical assessment of Plato's allegory and Descarte's skepticism to join modern scientific analysis about computational hypotheses and quantum physics for a comprehensive examination of simulated reality complexities and ongoing disputes. Throughout its synthesis, the paper analyzes media representations, technological effects, and ethical implications. [...]
Z. Huey Wen
(2025)
Episteme
Simulation & Manipulation: What Skepticism (Or Its Modern Variation) Teaches Us About Free Will
The chemistry of combining the simulation hypothesis (which many believe to be a modern variation of skepticism) and manipulation arguments will be explored for the first time in this paper. I argue: If we take the possibility that we are now in a simulation seriously enough, then contrary to a common intuition, manipulation very likely does not undermine moral responsibility. To this goal, I first defend the structural isomorphism between simulation and manipulation: Provided such isomorphism, either both of them are compatible with moral responsibility, or none of them is. Later, I propose two kinds of reasons – i.e., the simulator-centric reason and the simulatee-centric reason – for why we have (genuine) moral responsibilities even if we are in a simulation. [...]
Z. Huey Wen
(2025)
Episteme
Simulation & Manipulation: What Skepticism (Or Its Modern Variation) Teaches Us About Free Will
The chemistry of combining the simulation hypothesis (which many believe to be a modern variation of skepticism) and manipulation arguments will be explored for the first time in this paper. I argue: If we take the possibility that we are now in a simulation seriously enough, then contrary to a common intuition, manipulation very likely does not undermine moral responsibility. To this goal, I first defend the structural isomorphism between simulation and manipulation: Provided such isomorphism, either both of them are compatible with moral responsibility, or none of them is. Later, I propose two kinds of reasons – i.e., the simulator-centric reason and the simulatee-centric reason – for why we have (genuine) moral responsibilities even if we are in a simulation. [...]
Paul Firenze
(2025)
World Congress of Philosophy
Moral Reasoning in the Simulation: On Solipsism and Software Subjects
As David Chalmers (2022) shows in his book Reality+, the Simulation Argument is a gift that keeps on giving for philosophers. The probabilistic argument that we are likely to be living in a computer simulation has relevance for metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, philosophy of mind, as well as questions of moral philosophy and even theodicy. Perhaps most importantly, Chalmers shows how debates about the Simulation Argument capture the fun that brings many of us to the practice of philosophy in the first place. So, in this spirit, this paper will consider the persuasiveness of the critique that believing one is living in a computer simulation has detrimental moral effects on the believer—some going so far as to consider belief in the Simulation Argument to be a kind of “intelligent design for sociopaths” (Robertson 2021). A key to understanding this critique is a perceived connection between philosophical solipsism and what we might call “ordinary language solipsism.” [....]
Franco Vazza
(2025)
Astrophysics Frontiers
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The “simulation hypothesis” is a radical idea which posits that our reality is a computer simulation. We wish to assess how physically realistic this is, based on physical constraints from the link between information and energy, and based on known astrophysical constraints of the Universe. Methods: We investigate three cases: the simulation of the entire visible Universe, the simulation of Earth only, or a low-resolution simulation of Earth compatible with high-energy neutrino observations. Results: In all cases, the amounts of energy or power required by any version of the simulation hypothesis are entirely incompatible with physics or (literally) astronomically large, even in the lowest resolution case. Only universes with very different physical properties can produce some version of this Universe as a simulation. Discussion: It is simply impossible for this Universe to be simulated by a universe sharing the same properties, regardless of technological advancements in the far future.
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Justin Tiehen
(2025)
Journal of Consciousness Studies
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According to the simulation hypothesis, the world we live in is a computer simulation. According to long-termism, we should aim to bring about the best possible future. In this paper, I argue that there is a tension between the two: in so far as we have reason to think we are living in a computer simulation, we have reason to think the long-termist project will fail (or has already failed). I make my case by developing a novel version of the problem of evil. [...]
Anandi Hattiangadi
(2025)
How to Respond to the Simulation Skeptic
Imagine that you are looking out of a window, and notice that there is a cat stuck in a tree outside. You can see its crouched form on a high branch and you can hear it mewl as it contemplates the route back down. Indeed, you recognize it as your neighbor’s cat, Margot, who has frequently been stuck in trees in the past. On the basis of your experience, your memories, and background beliefs, you form the belief that there is a cat in a tree. As it happens, your belief is true: Margot is stuck in a tree. It is plausible that under these conditions, you know that there is a cat in a tree. After all, your belief is both true and supported by strong evidence. [...]
Eliott Edge
(2024)
PhilArchive
Testing the Simulation Hypothesis: The Annihilation of the Universe and Campbell's Consciousness-based Alternative
​Bostrom's Simulation Argument has become synonymous with simulation theory, despite the existence of alternative frameworks that also suggest our universe may be a computer simulation—frameworks that do not require the assumption of posthumans. Further, Bostrom's work has spurred discussions around the potential destruction or termination of our universe, prompting existential anxieties and fueling extensive philosophical speculation. We evaluate the arguments of Greene, Turchin, Batin, Denkenberger, and Yampolskiy, alongside the counterarguments of Braddon-Mitchell, Latham, and Edge. We conclude that Bostrom's Simulation Argument has been philosophically extended far beyond its original scope. As a contrasting model, we present Campbell's consciousness-based My Big TOE (MBT) Theory. MBT requires fewer assumptions, excludes posthuman entities, reduces the likelihood of simulation termination to near zero, includes a clear cosmogony and telos, and frames existence as an information-entropy-reduction system designed to evolve the consciousnesses of its participants—rather than the existential risk research project framework implicitly assumed in Bostrom's model.
Stephen Leonard Carr
(2024)
PhilArchive
The Simulation Hypothesis and the Crisis of Epistemological Certainty
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This paper examines how accepting the simulation hypothesis as a serious philosophical proposition forces a fundamental reconsideration of epistemological certainty. While previous work has focused on the probability of living in a simulation or the nature of consciousness within simulations, we demonstrate that the mere possibility of simulated reality creates a unique crisis for knowledge hierarchies that differs fundamentally from traditional sceptical arguments. Unlike Cartesian doubt, which preserves the notion of an objective reality while questioning our access to it, the simulation hypothesis suggests reality itself might be programmatically mutable. We argue this undermines traditional distinctions between scientific and religious epistemology, creates an insoluble verification paradox for scientific methodology, and requires a radical reimagining of knowledge and truth. [...]
Hureyre Kam
(2024)
Journal of Muslims in Europe
Islamic theology’s emphasis on reflecting on God’s signs finds resonance in simulation theory, offering a novel perspective on ongoing debates among Muslims in Europe and elsewhere. The Simulation Hypothesis posits that our reality, a potential computer-generated simulation, challenges conventional perspectives. Once a philosophical curiosity, it is now in the spotlight. This hypothesis suggests our perceived reality might be a construct, diverging from traditional views. It introduces a reality model where a Simulator, resembling a divine figure, controls the simulation in a way akin to religious teachings. [...]
Brian G.L. Brown
(2024)
This paper presents a unified theory of reality, which integrates two interdependent frameworks: Cellular Primary Consciousness Theory (CPCT) and Open and Closed Systems Theory (OCST). Although CPCT and OCST can each stand as individual theories, they are, in this work, combined to form a cohesive explanation of both the mechanics and purpose of the universe. CPCT posits that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of all life, extending to even the simplest cells, rather than being an emergent property exclusive to complex neural systems. Drawing upon evidence from quantum mechanics, cell biology, and systems theory, CPCT challenges traditional views on the origins of consciousness by suggesting that awareness is a universal property present from the cellular level. OCST, which forms the second component of this unified theory, examines the nature of the universe as a closed system subject to the laws of entropy. This theory explores how the universe is moving toward maximum entropy, where meaning and contrasts dissolve. However, beyond this closed system lies the realm of an open system—a domain of infinite potential that transcends the dualities and limitations of the physical universe. This open system offers a philosophical explanation for existence and the possibility of eternal meaning. [...]
Tariq Khan
(2024)
ResearchGate
How the Simulation Hypothesis answers, “Why the Quantum?”
A short essay suggesting that the nature of computer programs, involving structure and sequence, may be a direct analogy to quantum mechanical canonical pairs e.g., the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle with position and momentum, thus supporting the Simulation Hypothesis that our reality is a programmed simulation. Additional examples are provided from modern physics that support the Simulation Hypothesis and an idea is proposed where conscious minds are synonymous with a computer gate residing at the boundary of future and past existing to constantly create relations.
Elio Quiroga Rodríguez
(2024)
ResearchGate
I am The Matrix: The Internal Simulation (Perceptual Limitations and the Construction of Reality in Human Experience)
This article addresses the hypothesis that the reality we experience is not a faithful representation of the external universe, but an internal simulation generated by the human brain to cope with perceptual and cognitive limitations. Based on the idea that perception is an evolutionary simplification of a much larger reality, the connections between perception during sleep and waking states are analysed, suggesting that both represent variants of a continuous brain simulation. It discusses studies that explore how the senses filter and simplify the environment, leaving humans with a limited and biased experience of what actually exists. The conclusion posits that this simulation is necessary for survival and cognitive efficiency, but also challenges our conceptions of what is actually 'real'.
Joseph Hon Cheung Wong
(2024)
Journal of Quantum Information Science
DOI: 10.4236/jqis.2024.143006
Quantum Realities and Observer-Dependent Universes: An Advanced Observer Model
This paper presents a novel observer model that integrates quantum mechanics, relativity, idealism, and the simulation hypothesis to explain the quantum nature of the universe. The model posits a central server transmitting multi-media frames to create observer-dependent realities. Key aspects include deriving frame rates, defining quantum reality, and establishing hierarchical observer structures. The model’s impact on quantum information theory and philosophical interpretations of reality are examined, with detailed discussions on information loss and recursive frame transmission in the appendices.
David Chalmers
(2024)
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
DOI: 10.1111/phpr.13122
Taking the simulation hypothesis seriously
Much of Reality+ focuses on the simulation hypothesis: the thesis that we are living in a computer simulation. I argue that we should take the simulation hypothesis seriously, and that we cannot rule it out. I also argue that the simulation hypothesis is not a skeptical hypothesis where most of our beliefs are false. If we are in a perfect simulation, most of our beliefs are true. As a result, the simulation hypothesis does not lead to skepticism, and life in a simulation can be roughly as good as life in a non-simulated world.