Journal of the ACMS
Issues
Cumulative Indices
Letter from the Editor
Journal of the ACMS, 2012-2013 Issue
What if Reality is Simulated and Simulations are Real?
Wayne Iba, Westmont College (2012).
Abstract:Movies such as The Matrix have stimulated popular interest in "brain in a vat" scenarios. Amidst the traditional questions of mind, we tend to overlook an integral enabling component - the world simulation - which merits consideration in its own right. When facing the simulations in these imagined scenarios, we struggle with conceptual muddles regarding what is "real" and not. In this paper, I argue that simulated worlds are every bit as real as the one we inhabit. This turns out to be important when considering the possibility, as suggested by Nick Bostrom (2003), that the world we experience as "real" is actually a simulation. Can such a hypothetical prospect be reconciled with an orthodox Christian perspective? While the metaphysical status of simulations that I present here points towards such a reconciliation, significant obstacles remain to be addressed. I consider some of these remaining challenges and explore the associated stakes. Although this consideration works through a hypothetical scenario, the exercise provides several insights that may prove valuable apart from the required assumptions.
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