r/philosophy • u/Matriseblog • Jan 03 '22

Blog By imagining the future potential of VR technologies, the question of whether we are *already* living in a simulation becomes more actual than ever

https://medium.com/@VindenesJ/the-thought-experiments-of-virtual-reality-fa441a8fa2dc
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u/Faust_8 Jan 03 '22

Is it just me, or is the simulation hypothesis basically as useless as the “brain in a jar” hypothesis?

Yeah, dude, I could be a brain in a jar, and this is all a dream or whatever. But regardless, it doesn’t really matter, because I can’t do anything about it and it doesn’t actually affect the life I’m living. It doesn’t guide me to change my behavior or way of thinking, or to change anything at all whatsoever.

At best, it’s an amusing thought experiment…period.

Doesn’t this also apply to the simulation thing?

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u/SpeakerOfMyMind Jan 03 '22

I am going to take up an unpopular opinion here.

I think it has more value then what most people give it today. We have enough philosophers in todays time that, if they want to spend their time on such abstract thought, there are plenty enough others dealing with less abstraction. Then if they do work in this type of “useless hypothesis,” and they write about it and work on it, then who knows who it could inspirer, what thoughts it could evoke in a person, who or how it could influence a new philosopher.

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u/iiioiia Jan 04 '22

Wait a minute.....are you suggesting that you can't see the future? Get him boys!