Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

by David J. Chalmers

Even if we accept premises 1 and 2, we’ve really just relocated the sim blocker and sim sign issues. In weakening the premises, we’ve also weakened the conclusion, which now explicitly builds in the possibility of sim blockers. Furthermore, the notion of a sim blocker has now been broadened to include anything that blocks creation of enough humanlike sims. As a result, the notion of a sim blocker now covers things that we previously counted as nonsim signs. For example, Sims won’t be conscious is now a potential sim blocker: if conscious sims are impossible, then humanlike sims are impossible. Sims won’t experience large universes is now also a potential sim blocker; if simulations with apparently large universes are rare, then humanlike sims are rare.