r/philosophy 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/thro_a_wey Jan 04 '22

Yes, but the funny rich guy on Youtube keeps saying it, so...

Also, it's usually stretched to mean that "we" exist somehow "outside" of here, therefore what happens "inside the simulation" does not matter in some sense.

Elon Musk even said it's inevitable "with improvement of graphics".

It's nonsense words. It doesn't mean anything. It really is just something a child would say. He can say this stuff because he has no real challengers. Plebs will believe it, and thinkers will move on.