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[Superkewl]

When ever I hear about this stuff, all I can think of is:

 

[calistan]

If you look at this guy's research output, he used to study relatively normal things until Covid, after which he went balls-deep in this philosophical conspiracy stuff, mostly writing papers where he's the sole author. I'd say that's an alarm bell.

https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/persons/melvin-vopson/publications/

 

[Trilobit]

Atheists have a really hard time believing in extrauniversal beings unless they are just beings running our universe as a simulation on a supercomputer. They also have a hard time believing in spirits unless they are called extradimensional extraterrestrials or something like that.

 

[GloveSlap]

I don;t want to think of the "we're living in a simulation' theory that much, because I don't want it to dictate my mental state. But I will say this... I was watching some ones hot take theory on this and they made a claim that we have all been trapped in a simulation since 1999... And you know what... I am willing to consider that possibility.

It's funny that in The Matrix the machines chose 1999 because it was the peak of human civilization. No lies detected.

 

[Days like these...]

It's funny, I just crested 50yo and only have started considering this simulation business with any sense of seriousness in the past couple of years. Up until then, I guess I was thinking more on the macro-microverse scale - that is, "what if our entire massive Known Universe exists on the spore atop an imperceivably huge pimple on the butt of an even more inconceivably huge guy on what is essentially a subway in an impossibly unimaginably huge New York subway system?" Or something to such an effect.

But then I watched some youtube things about aliens (I've never believed) and a bit more about "are we in a simulation" as the concept is at least fascinating, and someone put a thought into my brain that was never there before, and it made some sense to ponder. WHAT IF.. not only are we in a simulation, but what if we are not even the actual point of the simulation at all, like this was all made to measure or observe or experiment something completely unrelated (and, again, completely outside of the boundaries of our tiny, tiny perception) and we are just the tiniest of (potentially countless) byproducts? Like we were never even the main point, or even a side point, we just developed because the conditions were there and the possibility deemed it so. As to it being "real" or not, or even what "real" is, essentially is irrelevant. Again, "real" might be so profoundly different to what we can relate to: no light or dark, no life or death, maybe not even consciousness in a relatable manner at all (getting back to all the usual "very alien" discussion at this point). So what is the point then?

The point is there is no discernable point, none that we can ever know, or at least not for a very long time and in consideration that we've not even scratched any of the surface. To think that the universe doesn't work in the solipsistic way that we "are programmed to expect" does seem jarring, and I still get a little fuzzy when I try to conceive of that, but it does make sense to me (as much as anything else possibly can). Anyway, there's only so far one can go with these discussions before it all goes into the wall rather quickly. As a species we are still very fresh to the idea that there is a planet, and a galaxy holding it and other planets, and that there are other creatures here (human and otherwise) that we are trying to coexist with and how to make sense of all of that. Just live your life, try to have some good times, don't be a dick yadda yadda yadda.

Thank you for your reply because the no fun allowed crowd wasted no time in swooping in here and poo-pooing the mere idea

 

[Madserb2023]

If it is a simulation then its a randomly generated one. Basically Starfield as to why most things are barren rocks. God is more likely than advanced lifeforms designing tiny microscopic lifeforms possibly miles underground that humans will never see. Ourselves would be a random by product of the simulation than something purposely designed. Judging by humanity we are the launch version of No Mans Sky.

 

[ssringo]

It's a fun thing to think about but not take too seriously.

On an unrelated note I seem to be experiencing a glitch where I can't make a left turn without the only other car on the road arriving at the exact time to make me wait on them. Seriously. Nobody else around but that one fucking car. Every time.

 

[Dev1lXYZ]

I did a Gateway Voyage at the Monroe Institute in January 2025. I've been listening to the tapes since June of last year. I've learned a whole lot of things and have been exposed to people like Tom Campbell, who worked around the Institute back in the day. He really gets into simulation theory big time. He calls it the LCS, or larger consciousness system. He's written a book series called My Big Toe which are all very interesting. My family on the other hand, is completely baffled by meditation and my wife flat out told me I was in to 'devil shit'. There is nothing 'devil shit' about it. Energy healing and helping others is viewed like that in what I call the Deep South (Tallahassee, FL) I have to watch it around people here and keep a low profile or else be profiled into oblivion by people that are scared of anything that appears non-Christian to them. I view meditation as a type of martial art, but trying to convince people otherwise is a lost cause. Is it real? Yes. Is it a cult? No, but it's got a lot of New Age lingo that makes it too woo woo for most.

Edit: My avatar and name actually comes from the Devil Car in Ridge Racer. I was the first of my friends to import a PS back in the day, and I love me some RR. That's it.

 

[ResilientBanana]

It's not time to revisit this dumb ass theory.

 

[wondermega]

Thank you for your reply because the no fun allowed crowd wasted no time in swooping in here and poo-pooing the mere idea

Ahh, I get it. This is the kind of stuff that has a lot of resonance with a whole bunch of people, in a variety of different directions. Some respon well to it, some feel completely terrified, and yet others would like nothing more than to shut it down altogether, and each for valid reasons (we may not always agree with them, but they at least make sense in context).

Discussing this stuff is a little more than discussing lightweight religion on a forum, or can be seen that way by certain people (again - understandably) and it can start being uncomfortable really quick. I don't mind if a lot of people have funky knee-jerk reaction to it - existential dread, The Meaning of Life, they are honestly the most ominous of things. I do think it is to gaf's credit that the crowd here doesn't swoop in for real and lose their collective mind about such subjects like they do with proper politics. At least, not yet.

 

[Days like these...]

Ahh, I get it. This is the kind of stuff that has a lot of resonance with a whole bunch of people, in a variety of different directions. Some respon well to it, some feel completely terrified, and yet others would like nothing more than to shut it down altogether, and each for valid reasons (we may not always agree with them, but they at least make sense in context).

Discussing this stuff is a little more than discussing lightweight religion on a forum, or can be seen that way by certain people (again - understandably) and it can start being uncomfortable really quick. I don't mind if a lot of people have funky knee-jerk reaction to it - existential dread, The Meaning of Life, they are honestly the most ominous of things. I do think it is to gaf's credit that the crowd here doesn't swoop in for real and lose their collective mind about such subjects like they do with proper politics. At least, not yet.

Ahh I see you missed the post that got me my tag

 

[MrCunningham]

It's funny that in The Matrix the machines chose 1999 because it was the peak of human civilization. No lies detected.

I'd go and find the video in my youtube history. But to be honest, I don;t think it really says too much, beyond popular culture hitting a wall in 1999 and goes on to explain how things haven;t evolved much since then.

Yeah, the movie The Matrix does use 1999 as the end of the human race. That movie does also play with the idea that everyone is living in a matrix simulation. Y2K was an overblown event that went nowhere. I was there and 18 years old in 1999.

You could make an argument that 2001 was another big milestone for the fall of humanity. Even though, I don't find 9/11 to be a cataclysmic even in the long run. There are a lot of questionable things about it that I do not want to get into. Those buildings being literal asbestos bombs were probably more devastating to Manhattan island in the long run. At least that is the impression that I get.

I would have to put more thought into it. But there has been a big tonal change between 1999 and the early 2000's. Especially in the western continents. You can see it in the media and the way people act. It's like there has been a big energy drain. I can't quite explain it as a whole. Maybe it is just me? I feel like there has been a lot of regression in the social climate.

 

[Days like these...]

Atheists have a really hard time believing in extrauniversal beings unless they are just beings running our universe as a simulation on a supercomputer. They also have a hard time believing in spirits unless they are called extradimensional extraterrestrials or something like that.

I just want to say that I'm not an atheist