Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

by David J. Chalmers

the Cartesian path to global skepticism says no to the Reality Question (in a simulation, nothing is real) and says no to the Knowledge Question (we can’t know we’re not in a simulation). When we accept simulation realism, we say yes to the Reality Question. In a simulation, things are real and not illusions. If so, the simulation hypothesis and related scenarios no longer pose a global threat to our knowledge. Even if we don’t know whether or not we’re in a simulation, we can still know many things about the external world. Of course, if we’re in a simulation, the trees and cars and Beyoncé are not exactly how we thought they were. Deep down, there are some differences. We thought that trees and cars and human bodies were ultimately made of fundamental particles such as atoms and quarks; instead, they’re made of bits.