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Ex, I asked in another thread recently for some clarification on your position about (y)our being in a simulation because I think it's important to know whether you think you/we are simulated or if we are separate from it and only being presented with the simulation. Forgive me for a lack of...

With regard to the question posed by the OP, my personal belief is that the existence of life elsewhere in the universe is likely. The constituent materials for life as we know it appear to be present throughout the observable universe. While the conditions for life (as we know it or otherwise)...

Thank you for further clarifying my position as well as, I think, Adam's.

To me, this seems me like a case of having one's cake and eating it too. As I've conceded, it is quite possible that we are in a simulation. However, if that is possible than that implies that everything is potentially false. One could not then state, "I think therefore I am" or "something...

Jarhyn, thanks for the response. I'm not sure I fully grasp what you're trying to say after the part I've snipped here, but I think the above is clear enough to me that I can meaningfully respond. I agree that axiomatic rejection of the possibility of being in a simulation is not necessary in...

I know this probably just amounts to talking to the wind, but I think the tone of this thread has been more toxic than it needs to be. If anyone cares to take this comment to heart, I think it could help the discussion but, hey, I'm not your dad. Anyway, I just wanted to chime in about some of...

Maybe you've hit on something here suggestive of a morbid (or perhaps just a completionist) god. Some of the most entertaining tales in Dwarf Fortress stem from suffering. Carving a statue of your former adventurer and placing it at the entrance of your fortress is fun, but it's even more fun...

My friend's little brother accidentally wound up on a mailing list and has since received multiple copies of The Sign by Robert Van Kampen. Since I'm a masochist atheist I grabbed one of the copies (sadly it is missing the "beautiful, full-color end-times chart") and subjected myself to reading...

I think an interesting subgroup of suboptimal and obviously untested designs is the one's that were clearly designed with ergonomics or ease of use in mind but miss the mark because the effort was only superficial or at least not thought through. As an example, my wife bought a bottle of body...

This is a fascinating conversation. I'm familiar with some of the different pronunciations and inflections described here but others are totally new to me. It's also interesting (but I suppose it shouldn't be surprising) to me that some of you have never heard certain variations that have been...

Then you could do the test yourself by just sitting on a hard chair until your butt falls asleep!

Sorry I'm late to the party. This subject is one that I find incredibly fascinating. One thing that has not been mentioned yet in this thread is the Wada test, which involves injecting barbiturates into one hemisphere of the brain and performing a variety of tests to assess the functions of the...

Thanks for the video links George. I'll probably check them out over the weekend if I can find the time. Thanks also for your humorous musings on the subject of creating simulations. I was actually thinking during this discussion about how interesting it might be to create some simulations that...

Again, that graph is an illustration, not a plot of real measurements. It's also not from the authors of the associated studies either. It also misconstrues the findings of the authors as you have done in your explanation which, apparently, is based primarily on this illustration and not the...

You're right that some of what appears to take place in this universe is pretty out there. It seems like the smaller or farther away things get, the more unintuitive things become. It's important to make the distinction between assuming we could be in a simulation and assuming that we are in a...

For context, I stated: I'll start by asking, if you disagree, could you try and articulate why? Even if you can't come up with a response that definitively refutes what I've said, if you could even tell me why you feel or suspect this is wrong, it will help me understand your thinking process...

Sorry, instead of writing "axioms that forestall subsequent reasoning" I should have written "axioms that do not forestall subsequent reasoning" or something along those lines.

I think these examples elucidate some of my points quite nicely. Can you imagine the surprise and confusion an NPC in one of these games might feel if they dropped into (or up to?) our world? "What do you mean gas costs a nickel more at this gas station? Gas is gas! Prices are always the...

I really don't follow your reasoning here. I can't understand why responding to my original criticism would require you to agree with something you don't agree with. If you agree, then agree. If you disagree, you can say why. Anyway, I'll humor you for a bit on the condition that, when we...

MTG wasn't really on my radar until the other day when a friend asked me to make the attached meme picture. He thought it would be funny since her initials, MTG, are the same for Magic The Gathering, and since their "Unhinged" series name was apropos to her behavior and apparent mental state...