Changes

The core of the simulation argument does not try do demonstrate that reality is, in fact, a simulation. It merely shows that one of three propositions should be accepted as true <ref name=”1”></ref> <ref name=”3”></ref>. The general idea can be understood without mathematics, although a formal version of the argument uses probability theory <ref name=”7”> Bostrom, N. (2006). Do we live in a computer simulation? New Scientist, 192(2579): 38-39</ref>. Although each of the propositions may seem implausible, if the simulation argument is correct, at least one is true <ref name=”6”></ref>. According to Bostrom (2003, 2006), the three proposition presented are:

If the first proposition is false then a major portion of all species at our level of development will achieve the posthuman stage (technological maturity). On the contrary, if true, it does not mean that humanity will face extinction soon but that it is unlikely to reach a posthuman stage. It is also possible that a civilization could remain arrested for a long time at the current level of technological development before going extinct <ref name=”1”></ref> <ref name=”6”></ref>. If the second proposition is also false then it follows that a portion of these species that are technologically mature will use some of their computer resources to run ancestor simulations, recreating minds like ours and doing so in vast numbers. In order for it to be true, there needs to be a convergence among the development of advanced civilizations, in which almost none of them are interested in running computer simulation, or have wealthy individuals interested in doing that. Another possibility is that they have enforced laws that prevent individuals from acting on their desires to run simulations. Advanced posthuman civilizations could also perceive the ethical problem of running ancestor-simulations, due to the suffering that is inflicted on the inhabitants of the simulation. This could lead to the prohibition of such simulations being created. Finally, if the third proposition is true, then reality is almost certainly a computer simulation created by an advanced civilization <ref name=”1”></ref> <ref name=”6”></ref> <ref name=”7”></ref> <ref name=”8”> Bostrom, N. (2005). Why make a matrix? And why you might be in one. Retrieved from http://simulation-argument.com/matrix2.html</ref>.