Wow, first post in a whole forum, what a buzz! This whole area interests me greatly, but I have no clear topic as such - I just wanted the first post:d/

On a more topical note, the whole question of meaning springs to mind i.e. do our lives have any intrinsic meaning if we are living in a simulation? So, hope that gets the ball rolling here!

P.S. Yay, 1st post!:d/

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There is no spoon.

Great question to start the ball rolling, Neo. Congrats on being the first poster!

This is only my third posting on the whole forum (but the first in this section!)

At the risk of sounding like a cliché, I think our lives have meaning if - and only if - we give them meaning. This would be true whether we are living in a simulation of "reality", or it in reality itself. I would say that "this" is reality because we are real to ourselves and those we interact with.

I believe that our inter-relationships are as "real" whether they are conducted across cyberspace, "real" space, or within a simulated cyberspace within a simulated real-space (if that makes sense).

Because we are conscious thinking self-aware beings, I think that it doesn't matter where "home" is, whether it is in a simulation or not.

And to answer your point Jim, I believe that we are indeed "machines" of a sort, albeit biological ones. But that we are much, much greater than the sum our parts. In a similar way that, if / when we build AI that is at least as smart as us, that AI will become more than the sum of its parts too, and transcend the limitations of its own parts. So, we can have meaning, I believe, even if we consider ourselves to be machines.

What do you guys think?

Hi Jim, I think I'll keep an open mind about the possibility of AI having consciousness in the same way that we have self-awareness.
I tend to go towards the belief that once a "critical mass" of neurons (or whatever the electronic equivalent may be) is reached, then consciousness becomes inevitable.

It remains to be seen if this is so. If not, then it is very possible we may have the "Terminator" scenario, where AI sees itself as superior, and learns all about the way we go about our affairs - wars, violence etc- and applies this back to us. A frightening thought.

Interesting you mention OBEs I used to have these as a kid, quite frequently, but then they stopped. It would be pretty cool if the AIs we build also have "displaced locality" of some sort, and report OBEs and also phenomenon such as Remote-Viewings. No doubt the military would use them to their own ends. Which then leads to the question of whether AI would have free will and a conscience

Like you say, maybe our "wetware" has advantages we don't yet know about when it comes to consciousness. Was it Roger Penrose that postulated that the "micro-tubules" in the human brain may have some kind of quantum interactive properties? This would go towards explaining such "non-locality" experiences as OBEs and remote-viewing.

These subjects are just sooo fascinating.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy ...

Happy Birthday, Universe-Solved! Forum and thanks to all who have contributed!

Special thanks to Neo for being the first contributor and still active after all this time!

Thank you Jim, but lets not forget about all those other members who've joined recently..you know - the shy ones (any progress sorting that out?). And of course hats off to sambuca, our resident riddler.


I meant that.

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Another Easter Saturday, another anniversary; congrats us

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to The Universe - Solved!

Another Easter Saturday, another "Universe Solved" birthday of sorts. Hurray us!

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Thanks Neo. So cool that you remember the anniversary. Next year is the big one!