100

Okay this may sound nuts but I was watch the history Channel and they were talking about how we might all be living in a simulation. I m totally obsessed now with this. I'm terrified and it sounds crazy but Elon musk believes this as do a lot computer scientists. I'm scared and stuck in a thought loop.
David

Dee74

I think its very possible to overthink things in an obsessive way David.

I came up through education at a time when post modernism was all the range - where quantum physics and neuroscience met philosophy: nothing is true, it's all our perceptions, illusions created by our brains intercepting our surroundings and the stimuli we perceive there.

It all got a bit silly in the end, IMO - and it's not the same as saying we all live in a simulation.

I think my reality would be a pretty poor video game level

When I start thinking too much I go outside get some sun, feel the grass, connect with friends...do the normal simple joys of life, y'know?

D

MissPerfumado

Hi David

It doesn't sound nuts.

I think if you have found the idea we are living in a simulation thought-provoking, then at some point, you might want to study it further. I have followed lots of outlandish existential ideas and they led me into years and years of study. Some of it was confronting and scary. I found that it was best to set aside the concepts that made me uncomfortable and come back to them later when I was ready to process them. The mind needs to expand slowly, it can't be forced open.

Whatever is the part you find scary, I would find a way to assure myself about, so I can go about my life, until I'm ready to explore the idea at a later point.

For example, if you're worried that we are in a simulation being controlled by something else, then consider that WE (or some larger aspects of ourselves) might be the ones controlling the simulation. Like some gigantic Sim game, Little David may just be an avatar of Big David.

If you're worried that life is pointless if it's just a simulation, as Dee says, go out into the sunshine and connect with nature, and you'll be comforted that life is beautiful.

What I sense is your curiosity has been piqued by the show, and you will be led to explore it more when you're ready to do so. But feeling scared about it is not the best emotional platform from which to do that. Break the thought loop first.

100

That's not it I find very idea repugnant and appsolutly terrifying. I hate the very thought it would mean nothing matters. Anyway I'm letting it go. I'm used to be obsessed with aliens. My parents put me on anti psychotic med because I told them I believed in aliens. I was watching alien show 10 hours a day. Anyway I can't stand uncertainty . My mind is anxiety rat trap full of terror at every turn. Ultimately thier can't be a simulation because could alcoholic possibly br so ****** up. I'm mean you can't make this stuff up that goes on at least in my mind. The truth is truly stranger than fiction.
David

nez

If we are living in a simulation...what then? If we are not living in a simulation...what then? Either way it pans out, I am going to keep doing what I think is the next right thing to do, because to me that is the right thing to do.

SnazzyDresser

I was simulating a degenerate drunk person for several years there, and it was so life-like that I almost died for real!

Thank God I found the real me by staying sober.

There's a good recent novel by Jonathan Lethem called Chronic City that touches on these simulation issues, I recommend it. He's a good writer, his book Motherless Brooklyn is even better btw.

Mizz

Maybe we are living in a simulation. Maybe we are not. Either way I am here doing what I am doing.
Sober. Living out my life in the best way I can at this point in my existence.

I could be one of those people in a tube in the Matrix.
I could be an alien visiting from another planet.
I could be in a really long dream
I could be a tiny ant in an ant farm ..... I'll admit to thinking this on more than one occasion.
The possibilities are endless.
Still going to stay away from the sauce.

Evoo

I tend to concern myself only with what I can verify. Lean into the scientific method. We exist in a small cross-section of time and space - there's a lot we'll never know!

But let's say, for the heck of it, all of our shared existence is some kind of incredible "simulation." Intelligent beings are experimenting with trillions of scenarios and our consciousness is a little more than a self-contained program within a grand simulation; I can neither prove or disprove such a theory. But for me, that reality would change nothing about my life, nor would it affect my responsibility to the other lives and consciousness' around me.

If it is all a simulation, I suppose I'm going to try my best to make it a damn good one .

ScottFromWI

I hope you were able to get out of the loop David. As others have said, even if it were true we would have A - No way of knowing, and B - No control even if we did know. There is very little we do have control over in our lives, but no lack of opinions on the matter on internet and in the Media in general.

I think most people have the "what's it really all about" discussion with themselves on a semi-regular basis. If you think about it, most societies and religions are attempts to put some kind of order and purpose about things. And we've been doing it for thousands, if not millions of years. My best advice is to avoid sources that tend to espouse catastrophic/conspiracy theories as they really serve no purpose other than to get people worried about things ;-)

AlwaysGrowing

David
I LOVE some alien movies and such. That said, for me it's entertainment and some horrible filler shows that I'm not sure how they were even funded. I'd guess there was/is some serious smoking/partaking for some of those vivid stories. We easily have too much reflection and 'what if' time IF we allow it. Serving others in whatever way our personality is gifted will help grow our perspective of the world.

AG

RecklessDrunk

Remember step 3.

Even if there are aliens then they must be part of God's plan. God is in control and we are just along for the ride. We are sober, God has taken us this far.

Outonthetiles

Run your knee hard into the corner of a coffee table. Feel the pain? See, not a simulation.