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We (probably) live in a simulation

sekio said:
In my worldview "souls", working from the definition that they are some unique attributes of an individual, living human that disspear upon death, could reasonably be viewed as the set of electrochemical conditions in the nerves sufficient to self-sustain and animate the body. Maybe also the connectivity map of the brain in question. Simple terms, the soul is the software, the brain is the hardware, and the mind is the emergent property produced by the combination of the two.

Theoretically, given such a set of conditions captured with suffcient accuracy, if you had the ability to duplicate those across people, each "person" would initially be indistinguishable, with the same habits, self-image, memories, tics, etc. but they would nevertheless diverge as differences in experience accumulate.
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Hmm. IOW. A soul is our consciousness. Right?
 
Gormur said:
It's not that important really. I just meant that we don't need a mind. We might need it to function in society or to move around, but not to breathe

In my view, this thread could be called the mind is a simulation whereby I'd be inclined to agree
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Maybe I don't disagree, although saying "we" don't need a mind to me is still somewhat a strange statement as our mind is generally the conceptual object that also contains our sense of identity, so almost by definition we do need it to have thoughts like "we/I don't need a mind". It's presumably not necessary to have a mind to breathe though, true. Besides that I'd say it's accurate to say that the mind is a simulation, although I'm tempted to ask, a simulation of what? A simulation of a quasi-supernatural conscious entity with free will and an individuality that is somehow separate from the rest of the universe? 😉 If so I would be inclined to agree, for sure.
 
I think I need a definition of "mind". My assumption is you mean the piece of my brain where I consciously do thought processing and build the story I believe I'm part of. Consciousness seems like either a virus we have not enitrely adapted to or a creation of our greater unconscious self for purposes that are a bit vague.

Consciousness thinks it's me but me is far more complex then even my conscious ability to understand. Consciousness believes it controls my decisions and actions but some studies in noetics suggest our unconscious is really making the decisions and consciousness is just quickly coming out with agreements that explain our actions to our thinking mind.
 
Douglas Hofstader's "I Am A Strange Loop" (and also "Godel, Escher, Bach" as well) is a good read for people looking for musings on the nature of mind vs brain and what exactly it means to be a conscious entity.
 
Yourbaker said:
I think I need a definition of "mind". My assumption is you mean the piece of my brain where I consciously do thought processing and build the story I believe I'm part of. Consciousness seems like either a virus we have not enitrely adapted to or a creation of our greater unconscious self for purposes that are a bit vague.

Consciousness thinks it's me but me is far more complex then even my conscious ability to understand. Consciousness believes it controls my decisions and actions but some studies in noetics suggest our unconscious is really making the decisions and consciousness is just quickly coming out with agreements that explain our actions to our thinking mind.
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To me, consciousness is whatever it is that makes the thing that has it experience something in a way that where there is something to self-reflect and say "I am". Hypothetically, someone could build an android that was so convincing in its similarity to a real human that it could fool everyone. This machine would be taking in sensory data, forming memories, planning, self-reflecting on its state... but would it truly be having an experience, or would it just be a really, really complex machine? I know there is more to it with humans (at least, personally I feel many other animals, if not all, also have consciousness, though much less advanced hardware and a much different experience), because I am a human and I am having an experience. Our thoughts and behaviors are more complex than what our mental narrative tells us, yes, it's true, but strip away everything, and that perceiver is still there, and to me, that is the "soul", that is what makes something truly alive and not an automaton.
 
I think the simulation hypothesis is likely to be true, but we have to live like if it wasn't.
We may be alone in the universe, maybe we are the first and it's our job to preserve life and to eventually create the first simulation. A simulated reality would be a good way to preserve what appears to be "consciousness" and the ability to have an experience.

And I don't think that a creator (in the religious sense) is necessary. Sure, some being would have to create the first simulation, but that being would have evolved through random mutation and natural selection. That's very different from a "god/creator" who is a magical being that appeared out of nowhere and never changes.
 
Yourbaker said:
I think I need a definition of "mind"
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Just IMO, not based in science and possibly over simplified...
A brain is a measurable organ responsible for bodily function either spontaneously or via sensory input, i.e. physical
Sentience is the interpretation of the environment thanks to sensory input
A mind is for self-realization and causes/reacts to circumstance or a combination of circumstances, i.e. emotional
Consciousness is a combination of sentience and mind in response to the environment/circumstances
A 'self' is a combination of brain and mind, sometimes harmoniously sometimes not, regardless of and not influenced by environment/circumstances
A soul is the spiritual version of the self

Just my 2c :)

./empeebee

[Edit] Forgot about sentience & consciousness.
 
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I can understand that. I often feel that nothing is real and almost like I could peel "reality" away like it's a film (I mean film as in thin layer, not as in a movie_ from over my eyes.
 
Emotions are just like a symptom of two differing personal perspectives on a subject, person or object. I don't see those as part of my mind really. If I feel an emotion I have duplicit ideas surrounding the emotion or the object of it. If I'm in love I willingly give without consideration for self, or repressed self concern despite what may be prudent. Hate may cause me to relinquish common sense if I don't realize it's a personal perspective that is askew.

Emotions are the indicator so I can find where my thinking is incorrect. Emotions betray the thought process to my awareness which is really the piece of me that feels like me much more correctly. My awareness rarely surfaces more then a moment and only points to issues in the now of their arising and is quickly lost to over thinking.
 
I know it's subjective. ;) I mean astral projection is essentially leaving your body by using your mind. I do that sometimes and I hate when people say free your mind, as if it were an appendage
 
Who let the kid with down-syndrome program a reality for trillions of emotionally loving, often confused group of people? Uh, I don't normally take bets, but on this one issue I'm perfectly safe betting black. We're not in a simulation.
 
Is reality just a mental simulation run by a infinite mind or a physical reality run by a computer in a actual physical universe.

Is it possible we can simulate entire realities within our own mind by just thinking about those thoughts and deep down they are self aware the constructs we think of?

I don't really buy into a computer simulation theory since i believe it would require a computer the size of the universe to compute a infinite expanding universe.

But im open to the idea that reality is a mental simulation in a infinite all powerful mind.
 
If forced to express my view, I'd say we live in a reality that's simulated by our imagination rather than controlled by our thoughts. That would mean we don't live in a simulated reality

Probably not the most scientific way of thinking, but oh well ;)
 
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