Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

by David J. Chalmers

One sort of objection says: It will never happen! You might deny that there will ever be many sim populations with human-level intelligence. This might be because simulation is impossible, or at least too difficult. It might be because no one will choose to make simulations. It might be because all human-level populations will die before they can build the simulations. If so, then there won’t be many (or any) simulations, and we’re much less likely to be in a simulation. Another sort of objection says: We’re special. You might say that even if there are lots of sim populations, we have special features that make us unlikely to be sims. For example, we are conscious, and we have very specific sorts of minds, and some might deny that sims could be conscious or have minds like ours. Alternatively, you might hold that we live in a distinctive sort of world, and that most simulated worlds won’t be anything like ours. If so, then even if there are many simulations, we are much less likely to be in one.