A few months ago, I've come up with an argument for the existence of God. I wrote a blog post about it, but never published it because I thought I couldn't accurately describe the idea. I've decided to publish it just for the purpose of this post.

It basically goes as follows: if the universe is infinitely long (over time), infinitely complex, infinitely large, or part of an infinite amount of universes, it must have in it a copy of myself (all of my states throughout my life), as well as of a machine capable of generating the data that corresponds to the entire universe. If such a machine exists, I am necessarily a part of its generation because my mathematical definition so precisely defines me that I am exactly equal to every copy of me that exists.

Anyway, if this doesn't make any sense, no worries. That's not the main point of the thread. The main point is that some professor has come up with a somewhat similar argument that I am interested in. It's not an argument for the existence of God, but rather for the real possibility (around 20%) that we live in a simulated reality. His idea is basically this:

It seems that we will soon be able to fairly accurately simulate intelligence. It also seems that there is nothing in particular that makes our consciousness special; it can be generated in a simulation complex enough. From this follows that either,

1. We, and almost all civilizations like us, will go extinct before reaching such a stage.
2. We, and almost all all civilizations like us, will have some (moral) reasons not to create such a simulation.
3. We are living in a simulation.

Read his abstract for a more detailed description of the theory.

Anyway... What are your thoughts on this? How do you think it relates to religion and spirituality? For example, if this guy is correct, it would make a lot more sense for God or gods to communicate with us through Biblical-style prophecies. It would also make Biblical texts like "they made us in their image" possibly true in the literal sense.

Also, outside of the religious context, the argument is quite interesting. What if we are mere simulations? Does it even matter?

We live in an illusion (something which appears to be what it is, rather than real). Physical death wakes us up from this illusion - we go 'oh yeah!' Like waking up from a dream. The physical world isn't 'really there' - we believe it is, and our belief creates our experience.

This is why people who have had NDEs rarely fear death anymore, and why their outlook is often so drastically changed. Entheogens produce similar results.

Check out the book DMT: The Spirit Molecule.

Also, there is an amazing series of books by Neale Donald Walsch which begins with the 'Conversations With God' trilogy. They contain some of the most fascinating information I've ever seen and are well worth reading, regardless of what you believe them to be. I recommend reading them in order, including the later 'Home With God' which explores death and dying. I think they will give you some very novel ideas on the concept of living within an illusion, and how it's created.

Another EXCELLENT book: The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. Really mind-blowing stuff.

The reason I'm suggesting books is because I think you should review what others have explored in this area - they have laid a lot of ground work for you to build on. The above book dates back to 1991 for example. I think you'll find it fascinating.

A interesting article...I'm not going to claim that I understood all of it, but I followed it pretty well. I think his basis that we will never become a 'post-human' society is a bit off base though. Humanity now is vastly different than it was one-thousand years ago, how can we assume to know its values in another thousand or two?
I have not had the opportunity to look over Voices suggested books but it will be fun. While I don't deny the possibility of being a complex simulation, I hope humanity never finds out as a whole. The radical paradigm shift would cause chaos that humanity might not survive.